Queen of the Crashed
by The 18th Angel
Summary: An evil User threatens to destroy the entire Net, and the only hope may rest in two Viruses. (Sequel to 'The Best of Both Formats')
1. Start Program

Disclaimer: ReBoot created and owned by the folks at Mainframe Entertainment. End Disclaimer

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Author Notes(in order of importance):

1- This is a SEQUEL. Before proceeding, be sure you have read "The Best of Both Formats" or you could get hopelessly lost.

2- CHARACTER DEATH AHEAD. Won't say how. Won't say when. Won't say who. You have been warned.

3- Rated R for violence, mature themes, and suggestive dialogue. Again, you have been warned.

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Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

Chapter 01- Start Program

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System of Commodore

The Past

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       They stood amid the ruins that had once been a thriving system. Four Sprites; three men and a woman. 

       "She's still here." The woman said quietly.

       "Where?" One of her companions asked.

       "Everywhere." The second in command, a tall sprite with blue skin and silver hair said. "All around us."

       "Will these things really work?" The woman asked, looking dubiously at the small device attached to her forearm.

       "They trusted us enough to exchange code." The leader said. "We have no choice but to return that trust."

       "And the device?" The youngest man asked.

       "It'll work." The Second in Command said. "It has to."

       The leader nodded. "Then let's begin." He took a deep breath and spoke to the keytool on his forearm. "Copeland... Net." Copeland began to glow bright gold. "Jase, you next."

       The youngest man nodded. "Surge: Net."

       A bright band of energy shot between Copeland and Surge.

       "Now you, Lain!" The leader called.

       The woman stepped forward. "Navi: Net." The bands extended to form a triangle between the three keytools. In the center, something began to take shape, a huge, demonic face.

       -*-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?-*- A bone-chilling voice rang out. -*-YOU FOOLS! YOU CANNOT STOP ME! YOU WILL ONLY GET YOURSELVES ERASED!-*-

       "Interface!" The leader yelled. "Hurry!"

       The silver-haired Sprite nodded and raised his arm. "Glitch: Net!" The net immediately extended to include Glitch. The figure in the center bellowed in anger as its form began to solidify in the center of the net.

       -*-YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME!-*- It roared. -*-I...AM...EVERYTHING!-*-

       "Now!" The commander yelled. "Copeland!"

       "Navi!"

       "Surge!"

       "Glitch!"

       In unison, they yelled the final command. "Compress!"

       In the center of the net, underneath the horrific visage, the Wavelet Compressor hummed to life. The effect on the Virus was immediate. The roars of anger changed to cries of pain. As the Sprites watched, the face began to shrink. Each wave of energy from the device compressed the Virus more and more until it became too small to see. 

       Suddenly the air above the compressor seemed to explode. That wasn't supposed to happen. The Wavelet Device was supposed to compress their enemy infinitely, until she ceased to exist. Instead, the device exploded, leaving behind a shining black jewel hovering in the air and four Sprites lying motionless in a circle around it.

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System of Mainframe

Present Second

*   *   *   *   *

       Bob woke from a dream he couldn't quite remember. In fact, all he could remember was that he had been having a dream, and it had filled him with dread. But the details of the dream were lost to him. 

       Reaching over, he found an empty space next to him. It was barely 0830 and she had already gone into work. He sighed sadly. Dot was overworking herself again. 

       Bob got up, showered quickly, and went out into the kitchen. Enzo was at the table, reading a comic book.

       "Morning, Enzo." Bob said. "Have you seen Dot?"

       "She had to go see Phong about something." Enzo said. "She told me to send you to the diner."

       _Of course!_ Bob slapped himself mentally. Dot hadn't gone in to work. She had her appointment this morning. And she would be waiting in the diner to tell him how it went.

       "Thanks Enzo." Bob said, rushing out the door. "Don't be late for school."

       "Yeah, sure." Enzo muttered.

*   *   *   *   *

       Dot was sitting in her usual booth when Bob reached the diner. He was about to go over there when Cecil popped up in front of him.

       "Can you not read?" The Dedicated Server demanded, pointing to the 'Wait to be seated' sign.

       "Not now, Cecil." Bob said. "I need to talk to Dot."

       "Do you have an appointment?"

       "There's no-one else here!" Bob protested.

       "I am sorry, but I can not allow just anyone to walk in off the street and disrupt Madame's schedule." Cecil said.

       Bob scowled and help up his left hand, shoving his gold wedding band in front of Cecil's face. "I'm her husband!" He growled. "I don't think she'll mind!"

       Cecil sighed dramatically. "Wait at the bar."

       Thankfully Dot chose that moment to rescue Bob. Or, more accurately, to rescue Cecil. She looked up from her work and waved Bob over. He grinned at Cecil and joined his wife at the small booth.

       "Morning." Bob said, giving her a quick kiss.

       "Hi." She said quietly, returning to her vidwindow.

       "Hey." Bob protested. He slid into the seat next to her. "What's with the silent treatment? What did Phong say? Should I start formatting a nursery?"

       He should have known from the look on her face. Looking into his eyes, tears gathering in her own, Dot shook her head silently. Now Bob really felt like a Null. He had been so anxious to hear the news, he never even considered that it might not be good.

       "I just... I don't know, Bob." She said. "Maybe we're just not meant to..."

       "Hey." Bob stopped her. "Don't start thinking like that. We've only been married a few minutes. These things can take time." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm in no rush, are you?"

       "Don't think you can fool me, Robert Interface." Dot said. "You want kids just as much as I do."

       "It's not about how bad we want it. This isn't something you can organize or control, Dot. You just have to let it happen however it will." 

       "And what if it never does?"

       Bob slid closer and put his arm around Dot. "You've always got me to kick around." A tiny smile crept onto Dot's face. "There, that looks much better."

       Dot's smile widened. She leaned against Bob, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know...you're right." She said. "This isn't the end of the Net. I mean, we've still got our hands full just taking care of Enzo. Who's to say we should even be thinking about having kids right now, right?"

       Bob nodded, humoring her. They had already had this conversation and decided that yes, they were ready to have children of their own. But if it made Dot feel better, Bob would agree with her that 10 plus 10 was 101.

*   *   *   *   *

       Bob stayed at the Diner a few more microseconds to cheer up Dot. Eventually, upon her assurance that she would be fine, he left her to her work and went about his, patrolling Mainframe. He had one duty this morning that he _really_ did not want to perform. Unfortunately, if he didn't do it, no one would. And that was unacceptable.

       Sighing, not looking forward to this, Bob angled his zip board down toward G-Prime. The Tor had finally been dismantled, the tunnels filled in and the land used for low-rent housing. Bob zipped over the new apartments, heading for the very edge of G-Prime, where the sector bordered Wall Street. One or two high-rises hung over into G-Prime where the two sectors met. Bob landed on the roof of the tallest building a small door led to the stairs; Bob went down one flight and stepped out into a short hallway with a single door at the end.

       Megabyte took his time answering the door, either because he knew who was ringing the bell or because that was just the kind of person he was. Some things never changed.

       "Oh, good morning Bob." He said. "Here for inspection."

       "Yeah. Sure." Bob took two steps into the apartment and turned back to the door." Well everything looks fine see you next cycle."

       "Upset, Guardian?"

       Bob stopped just at the door, thinking, _crash it all, crash it all, crashitall!_

       "Nothing you'd be interested in, Megabyte."

       "On the contrary." The Ex-Virus said. "You're obviously feeling depressed, and I find any pain you might be in _fascinating_."

       "Fine." Bob sighed. "It's none of your business then."

       "Problems with the wife, is it?" Megabyte asked before Bob could make it through the door. "I might have guessed. She is rather difficult to live with as I recall."

       "What do you know about women, Megabyte?" Bob sneered. "You've only been a man for an hour."

       "As in so many other things, I know more than you ever seem to give me credit for." Megabyte replied. "Enough to know when a woman isn't getting something she wants."

       "I don't think we need to be having this conversation." Bob said.

       "Well don't get mad at me, Guardian. It's not my fault if you don't know how to keep your wife satisfied."

       Bob silently counted to 1010, determined not to rise to Megabyte's bait. "As always, you have no idea what you're talking about."

       "All right, so everything in the bedroom is processing well." Megabyte said. "Children, then. Dot wants a few dozen offspring running around, but you don't want to lose your precious independence and..."

       "Megabyte." Bob stopped him. "I've been coming here every cycle for the last hour. And every time, you have a new prediction of how my marriage is ending."

       "What's your point, Guardian?"

       "Are you going to be getting your _own_ life any time soon?"

       "Bob, Bob, my basic little friend." Megabyte laughed. "Making you miserable _is_ my life."

       "Some people would call that obsession."

       The ex-virus shrugged. "I prefer to think of it as a hobby. It keeps me off the streets."

       Bob rubbed his suddenly aching forehead. It was _way_ too early in the second to have to deal with Megabyte. "Are you doing anything illegal, Megabyte?"

       "No."

       "Are you trying to rebuild your army?"

       "No."

       "Are you looking for ways to go Viral again?"

       "Don't patronize me Bob, I gave that up minutes ago."

       "Oh come on, we both know you'll never give it up. And a simple yes or no will do." Bob said. "Are you selling Dust to schoolchildren?"

       "Is there a lot of money in that?"

       "Megabyte..." Bob said in a warning tone.

       "I'm not doing anything illegal, Bob. I just sit up here bored out of my mind, second in, second out, slowly degrading from the loneliness of..."

       "Fine, see you next cycle." Bob said curtly, heading for the stairs before Megabyte could get too caught up in his usual histrionics.

       As he headed away from G-Prime, Bob resolutely pushed all of Megabyte's taunts out of his head. He and Dot were perfectly happy together. There was just that one...minor thing, that they both wanted and seemed unable to have.

       --WARNING! INCOMING GAME! WARNING! INCOMING GAME!-- The System Voice jolted Bob out of his thoughts. The skies above G-Prime opened up and the ominous purple cube began its slow descent. Judging the distance quickly, Bob realized that the cube would almost surely land where he had just been. Right on top of Megabyte's home.

       Silently cursing his luck, Bob turned back and headed for the roof, getting under just as the game cube reached the top level of the building.

*   *   *   *   *

       When his eyes recovered from the bright purple flash, Bob was standing in a clearing in the middle of a lush jungle. The air was almost humid enough to swim in and thick vegetation surrounded him on all sides. 

       Looking around, he saw a few Binomes and one very angry sprite arrayed through the clearing.

       "Bob!" One of the Binomes called out, immensely relieved to see the Guardian.

       "So you made it back in time, eh Guardian?" Megabyte yawned. "Well done indeed."

       "Just doing my job." Bob replied. "I assume you'll be staying out of the way as opposed to actually helping."

       "Quite correct." Megabyte said. "I have no intention of involving myself in this ridiculous exercise."

       "Fine." Bob turned back to the Binomes, who eagerly awaited his orders. "Glitch; Game Stats." Glitch whirred briefly before presenting the information to him.

       "Okay." Bob said. "This is the last level of 'Korut: Lizard Killer'. The User is two levels below us. He can win by finding the last piece of the Time Staff and all seven keys on this level. All of you, go find the keys and the staff piece and hide them before he gets here."

       "You got it Bob!"

       "Aye aye, Captain!"

       "Ready when you are!"

       Bob nodded. "Let's do it. ReBoot!" He clicked his Icon and was enveloped in a pillar of green light. The Binomes did the same. When the light cleared, the Binomes had become small, reptilian bipeds with long necks and agile hands. Bob's ReBooted form resembled the Binomes, though he was much larger and equipped with huge, sickle-shaped claws on both feet. Though no other weapons presented themselves, at least Glitch was still attached snugly to his arm.

       "All right." Bob said to the Binomes. "Get out there and hide those keys, then hide yourselves. By the time the User gets here, all of you put together won't be a match for him so just stay out of his way."

       The Binomes nodded and scampered off into the level. Bob turned to Megabyte.

       "Let me take this opportunity to tell you how absurd you look, Bob." He said with a laugh.

       Bob chose to ignore that. "Whether you're helping or not, you won't want to hang around here. This is where the User will enter this level." He said. "You'd better ReBoot and follow me."

       "But if I ReBoot, I become a target for the User." Megabyte said. "My entire goal here is _not_ to get involved."

       "Well if you don't ReBoot, you'll never be able to keep up with me." Bob retorted. "Now stop being such a little wuss and ReBoot already."

       The attack on Megabyte's ego had the exact effect Bob had hoped it would. He glared angrily at Bob, then clicked his Icon twice. "ReBoot."

       When the light cleared, Megabyte's finely tailored business suit had been replaced with a pair of camouflage pants, a white tank top, and a baseball cap. He had also received a rather substantial gun. 

       "On second thought, this may be an improvement." He mused, making sure Bob knew that the gun was pointed in his direction.

       "Don't get any ideas." Bob said. "There's no friendly fire between enemies in this game. All you'll do if you shoot me is waste ammo."

       "Pity." Megabyte lowered his gun. "In that case, lead the way."

*   *   *   *   *

       "It's pretty simple." Bob said, leading Megabyte through the dense jungle. "The User will probably head for the last Time Staff fragment before he looks for the keys. We ambush him there and take him out as quickly as possible. Then it's 'Game Over' and everyone's home in time for lunch."

       "Brilliant strategy Bob." Megabyte rolled his eyes. "Any reason we can't ambush him as soon as he enters the level?"

       "He'll be at full power when he first gets here." Bob explained. "I'm hoping that this way the Game Sprites will weaken him a little on his way to us."

       Though Megabyte hated to admit it, and wasn't about to say it out loud, Bob's plan made a lot of sense. Grudgingly, he fell back into line behind the Guardian. 

       It was humiliating to be so helpless in a game. An hour ago, he would have been able to get out from under the Game before it landed. And even if he had somehow become trapped in a Game he would have had more than enough power to dispatch the User himself. Now he had to play along and ReBoot, then take orders from Bob just to keep himself from being deleted; or worse, nullified. Being a Sprite was bad enough, life as a Null would be more than he could stand. At least as a Sprite he still had a chance, however remote, a returning to his former glory.

--FINAL LEVEL-- The deep, menacing voice of the Game's announcer called out, heralding the User's arrival.

       "He's right behind us." Bob said. "We've got to hurry."

*   *   *   *   *

       The Time Staff fragment was already gone when they reached the end of the level. In its place, a dead branch had been laid on the altar, right where the staff piece should have been. 

       The User wasn't far behind them. Bob and Megabyte had barely managed to hide behind some nearby bushes when he came charging up the steps to the altar. In this Game, the User was a large, bare-chested man carrying what looked like a compound bow with electronic arrows. When he saw the stick lying on the altar his face twisted into a mask of rage. He drew back an arrow and fired it at the altar in frustration. The decoy branch was incinerated in a blast of fire as the arrow struck the base of the pedestal. 

       With his prize obviously not there, the User turned to head back into the level in search of it. Before he could get too far, Bob leaped out of the bushes, kicking at the User with his clawed feet.

       The User dropped his bow as Bob flew toward him. Reaching down, he grabbed a huge hunting knife from his belt. Despite his best efforts, Bob couldn't twist out of the way in time. The knife slashed across his arm. Bob fell back, grasping the bleeding wound.

       "Megabyte!" He yelled. "What are you waiting for? Shoot him!"

       But Megabyte remained still. He made no move to lift his weapon. He merely grinned as the User pulled a small pistol out of its holster and took aim.

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

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	2. Undeleted Memory

Disclaimer: ReBoot created and owned by the folks at Mainframe Entertainment. End Disclaimer

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Author Note: 'Firewires' was suggested to me by the very smart Ebehr. Thanks!

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Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

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Chapter 10- Undeleted Memory

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      The User dropped his bow as Bob flew toward him. Reaching down, he grabbed a huge hunting knife from his belt. Despite his best efforts, Bob couldn't twist out of the way in time. The knife slashed across his arm. Bob fell back, grasping the bleeding wound.

      "Megabyte!" He yelled. "What are you waiting for? Shoot him!"

      But Megabyte remained still. He made no move to lift his weapon. He merely grinned as the User pulled a small pistol out of its holster and took aim.

      Bob kicked out with one clawed foot. The force of the kick knocked the User back a short distance. Looking furious, the User got up and aimed his gun at Bob again, this time from far enough back to be out of range of Bob's claws.

      Before the User could pull the trigger, the ground began to shake. A huge fist slammed into the User as he struggled to keep his footing. The force of the punch threw the User into the air, slamming him against the stone wall behind the altar. An instant later, his body vanished.

      Bob stood up and took a good look at his benefactor. A huge, purple monster stood before him. Each of its four hands ended in massive fists, and its feet looked big enough to shake the ground just by walking.

      "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, BOB?"

      "Clash?" Until the beast spoke, Bob hadn't noticed the two Icons on its shoulders. "Where did you come from?"

      "WE WERE COMPILED BY KILOBYTE AND DOWNLOADED TO MAINFRAME BY MEGABYTE THROUGH UNNOFFICIAL..."

      "He means how did you get in the Game, you idiots." Megabyte said.

      "YOU BE QUIET!" Clash snapped. "WE WILL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!"

      "The question still stands though." Bob said. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but how _did_ you get in here?"

      "WE SAW THE GAME CUBE COMING DOWN. WE JUST BARELY MADE IT UNDER IN TIME. WE ENDED UP ON THE EDGE OF THE GAME."

      "Shouldn't the game be ending now?" Megabyte asked. "The User is dead."

      "Multiple lives." Bob said. "We have to kill him one more time. And then you and I are going to have a long talk!"

*   *   *   *   *

      All eyes in the war room were focused on the Game Cube resting halfway between G-Prime and Wall Street.

      "I'll never get used to this waiting." Welman Matrix said, piloting his robotic body closer to the screen.

      "I know how you feel, my friend." Phong said. "But it is certainly better than the old seconds."

      "That's true."

      "What do you mean?" Enzo asked. "What did you do in the old seconds?"

      "There wasn't really anything we _could_ do." Welman told his son. "None of us new how to win the Games. All we could do was get out of the way and then rebuild the damaged sectors as quickly as possible."

      "Really? That's seriously default."

      "You worried?" AndrAIa asked Dot quietly.

      "I don't like having Bob in there alone with Megabyte." Dot said. "He may be a Sprite now, but he's still dangerous."

      "Clash is in there too." AndrAIa pointed out. "Megabyte won't try anything with him...them...around."

      "I guess." Dot sighed. "I just wish Matrix had made it in too."

*   *   *   *   *

      "WHERE WILL THE USER GO NOW?"

      "Your guess is as good as mine." Bob said, pushing layers of vegetation aside as he led his companions through the jungle. Behind him, entire trees fell as Clash's huge body cleared its own path. "He knows the Time Staff isn't at the altar anymore, so he might go anywhere looking for it. Or he might go looking for the keys, but with seven key points, the chances of us going to the same one he does are pretty remote."

      "So where does that leave us?" Megabyte asked.

      Bob sighed. "We have to find him before he finds those keys." He looked down to the keytool on his arm. "Glitch, can you find this level's keys?"

      Glitch clicked and whirred briefly.

      "I know they're hidden." Bob said. "That's why I need you to find them."

      Glitch's lens expanded into a small screen. Bob studied the readout for a moment and nodded.

      "It's this way." He said, changing directions and leading them deeper into the jungle.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Well those guys certainly did their jobs well." Bob said, searching through the thick vines and bushes that covered the forest floor.

      "Yes, and then they went and hid so we can't ask them where they put it." Megabyte said. "Things are looking rather grim here, Guardian."

      "Well I _could_ take this moment to remind you that you had a chance to take out the User with one shot and you passed on it; but you know me, I don't like to nag." Bob said.

      "MAYBE IT IS UP IN A TREE."

      Megabyte rolled his eyes. "Brilliant thought. Tell me, how tall would a Binome have to be to reach even the first branch of any of these trees?"

      "Megabyte, either start helping us look, or shut up."

      "I was only pointing out the flaw in the big oaf's plan."

      "You're being a nuisance." Bob said. "Now either help, or zip it."

*   *   *   *   *

      "How's it going?" Dot asked.

      "They seem to have reached an impasse." Phong said. "The Game's energy level appears to have stabilized."

      "What does that mean?" AndrAIa asked.

      "It means that neither team is doing anything that will bring the Game closer to an end."

      "In this case, I think no news is good news." Dot said. "At least it means all our people are safe."

      AndrAIa frowned. "Yeah but how long can they stay in the Game without doing anything?"

      "As long as it takes." Phong said.

*   *   *   *   *

      "I can't believe they buried it." Megabyte said. "What were they thinking?"

      "Actually, it was a great idea." Bob said, brushing the last of the dirt off of the key. "Look how hard it was for us to find it, and we knew the general area to look in. The User might not have found it at all."

      "If you say so." Megabyte replied. "So now we just go stand somewhere and let him come to us, hmm?"

      "That's the plan." Bob nodded.

      "And how do you plan on getting his attention?"

      "Simple." Bob said. "We're going to overload your gun. This level is small enough that he'll hear the explosion no matter where he is. Then we wait and ambush him."

      "AND THEN WE TAKE HIM OUT." Clash finished for Bob.

      "Wait." Megabyte said. "_My_ gun?"

      "Why not?" Bob grinned at him. "You gave up your chance to use it."

*   *   *   *   *

      Megabyte stared at his weapon in dismay. Bob had dismantled the gun, no easy task with his thin, clawed fingers, and hooked the power cell into the beam emitter. As soon as the trigger was pressed, an endless loop of energy would run through the impromptu circuit, with disastrous results.

      "How long will this take?" He asked.

      "It's a standard energy weapon. Average power output at the maximum setting." Bob said, doing some quick calculations in his head. "It should only take a few nanos for the feedback loop to blow out the power cell."

      "THAT WILL NOT GIVE YOU VERY LONG TO GET AWAY." Clash said.

      "Don't worry. All this will really do is make a loud noise. The explosion itself is fairly small."

      Megabyte had already moved out of the way. Clash reluctantly joined him. Bob knelt down and pressed the trigger. A thin, electronic whine arose from the weapon, rising in volume and pitch as Bob turned to run. Before he made it three steps, the sound reached its apex and the gun exploded with a deafening *BOOM*. The explosion turned out to be slightly larger than he had planned. Bob was thrown through the air and slammed into the ground, knocking the breath out of him. 

      Even before he began struggling to his feet, Bob heard the User approaching. He had to get up, because any nano now, the User would be in firing range.

      He didn't even notice the ball of blinding energy hovering over the spot where the gun had been, swiftly growing.

*   *   *   *   *

      "What in the Net...?"

      No one had an answer for Dot. The largest power spike anyone had ever seen had just erupted inside the game.

      "What was that?" Welman asked.

      "Some sort of explosion." Phong said.

      "Was anyone hurt?" Dot asked.

      "It is impossible to tell."

      --WARNING! GAME CORRUPTION!--

      "Oh no!" Dot cried. "Not again!"

      "What is it?" AndrAIa asked.

      "An Infinite Data Else/If Loop." Dot said. "The whole game is about to collapse!"

      "So what happens to the people _inside_ the game?"

      "If they're lucky, they'll have something heavy to anchor themselves on."

      "And if not?" AndrAIa demanded.

      Dot grimaced, but said nothing.

      "Dot!" AndrAIa pleaded.

      Phong spoke up. "If they cannot anchor themselves, they will be recycled along with the Game Data."

*   *   *   *   *

      Bob tried to stand up, but he was still having trouble drawing breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a little voice was telling him that something was very wrong, above and beyond the User's imminent arrival. As soon as his head cleared, he intended to investigate this feeling some more. Just a few nanos to catch his breath...

      "BOB!" Clash called out. "LOOK!"

      Bob turned slowly and saw a huge, glowing orb floating over the wreckage of Megabyte's gun. As he watched in horror, the orb began to grow, drawing in energy from the Game in huge waves. Each wave doubled the size of the glowing sphere.

      --WARNING! GAME CORRUPTION!-- The System Voice, with its monotonous lack of emotion, couldn't begin to reflect the seriousness of the situation.

      "Guys." Bob said quietly. "Run!"

      Megabyte and Clash didn't wait for an explanation. As one, they turned and headed away from the quickly expanding Error as fast as their legs would carry them. Bob turned and headed after them, catching up in no time.

      "Head for those rocks!" He yelled, pointing to an outcropping of vine covered stone up ahead. "Hurry!"

      Behind them, the Data Loop had flattened itself from a perfect ball into a donut shape and now began to rotate with increasing speed. Small rocks began to drift toward the spinning disk. As the speed of rotation increased, larger rocks and boulders began flying through the air into the Error, where they were instantly vaporized. Eventually, the Loop gathered enough force to rip trees up by they roots. The entire Game world was being drawn into the singularity.

      Bob hunkered down behind the rock next to Megabyte and Clash. He took some small pleasure in the look of fear on Megabyte's face.

      "WHAT ABOUT THE BINOMES?" Clash yelled above the howling winds.

      "They probably hid in the mountains after they moved the keys! They'll be fine!" Bob yelled back. "I hope." He added quietly.

*   *   *   *   *

      "The Game Cube is collapsing!" Phong said, pointing to the main screen. As they all watched, the Game Cube seemed to implode, folding in on itself, shrinking down to nothingness. Where the cube had been, on the roof of Megabyte's skyscraper, stood two sprites, a war bot, and half a dozen Binomes.

      "Casualties?" Dot asked, relief that Bob was safe flooding her voice.

      Welman checked the computer readout in front of him. "All system inhabitants accounted for." He said.

      Dot breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the User."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Everyone okay?" Bob counted the Binomes around him, relieved to see that no one seemed to have been deleted. Everyone muttered affirmative responses; most of them still seemed to be in a state of shock.

      "Well." Megabyte said. "Good show all. I think I'll retire now."

      "Hold up, Megabyte." The ex-virus turned to him. Bob beckoned him back. "Come here a nano."

      "Going to have our little chat right now, are we?" Megabyte asked, walking over to where Bob stood. "Can't it wait a few..."

      Bob's fist lashed out and caught Megabyte across the chin. Megabyte's head snapped to the side but, to his credit, he remained standing.

      "Fine." Megabyte said. "I suppose it could be said that I deserved that, but..."

      But Bob wasn't finished yet. Reaching back, he threw a second punch. This time, Megabyte staggered backward a few steps, grasping his jaw. He looked up, furious.

      "Now that was just uncalled for..."

      Bob balled up his fist and slugged Megabyte yet again, finally sending the big Sprite to the ground. He stepped back, rubbing his fist lightly.

      "You want to try to get me deleted, fine. I'm used to that." Bob said quietly. "But if you ever find yourself in a Game again, you _will not_ jeopardize our chances of success. Am I making myself _absolutely_ clear?"

      "Crystal." Megabyte replied, wiping a trickle of energy from the corner of his mouth.

      With a nod, Bob hopped on his Zip Board and sped off toward the Principal Office with Clash and the Binomes in tow.

*   *   *   *   *

      Megabyte watched Bob and his followers fade into the distance. He rubbed his aching jaw, glaring at the tiny figure of the Guardian.

      "You'll get yours, Bob." He muttered. "Sooner or later."

      A whole hour had gone by without incident. Games were seen by some, including the Guardian, as an almost welcome respite from the boredom of peacetime. Megabyte knew that Bob was becoming lax, overconfident. He was young, newly married, and full of himself. All these things put him off guard. If Megabyte didn't delete him, something else would come along to do the job for him. The Net was larger and more full of truly nasty things than Bob could begin to imagine, and sooner or later, he would run afoul of one of them.

      But for himself, Megabyte hoped that he would find a way to dispose of the Guardian first. It was as much a matter of pride as vengeance for trapping him in the form of a Sprite. Megabyte had had Bob in his crosshairs since the second of his birth. And when Megabyte set his sites on someone, they deleted. Period. 

      And they stayed deleted.

*   *   *   *   *

System of Powercell

*   *   *   *   *

      Gray ran down the darkened alley, stumbling over his own feet in his panic. It wasn't very Guardian-like to turn tail and run, but his pursuer was more powerful than anything he had ever heard of. She didn't match any of the Virus profiles he had learned in the Academy or any of the new ones from the latest update. She wasn't behaving like a normal Virus either. She didn't seem interested in controlling the System or spreading her Code. She just wanted to delete Gray. And he couldn't imagine why. He hadn't done anything to the Virus, except for being a Guardian. He'd never even met her before!

      Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Gray listened for the sound of approaching footsteps. The alley was silent. Maybe the Virus had lost his trail. Gray leaned back against the wall, trying to slow his breathing. There was a new Virus in the wild. None of the System's safeguards recognized it, and every method he had tried to isolate it proved ineffective. As an old friend from the Academy would have said, this was bad. Very bad.

      The sound of a match being struck drew Gray's attention. He gasped in shock. It wasn't possible, he had been alone, he would have heard footsteps. But the Virus was there nonetheless, her face illuminated eerily in the light of the match. She calmly lit a firewire, took a long drag, and shook out the match before turning her attention on Gray.

      "Running away is against the rules." She said, blowing a cloud of smoke in his face. "But then, you Guardians _are_ a bunch of cowards, so I shouldn't expect too much."

      Gray stood his ground. If he couldn't get away from the Virus he might as well go down fighting.

      "Navi; Energy Ram!" His keytool extended a brilliant beam of energy. Gray swung with all his might, striking the Virus across her pretty face. Her head snapped to the side. The energy ram tore a small strip of skin from her cheek, revealing dark blue metal underneath. As Gray watched, the wound sealed itself, leaving flawless skin behind, with no trace of injury.

      "You're not strong enough to destroy me." She said. "It's a shame really. I've been itching for a good fight."

      "Navi! Viral Cocoon!"

      The Virus, was too fast for him. She leaped out of range of the deadly cocoon and came back at him with fists flying. Gray managed to knock her back with the energy ram, but he wasn't doing any damage. He needed to find a weak spot. The Virus _looked_ like an ordinary teenaged girl, except she had no Icon. The only possible weak point he could see was a strange black jewel hanging from a chain around her neck. 

      "Navi; narrow beam!" The beam struck the black jewel dead in the center. And the jewel absorbed it! He couldn't believe it, but the Virus was actually draining the laser's energy.

      Grinning ear to ear, the Virus stalked toward him, even as Navi began to run out of energy. She reached out and grabbed him, crushing his arm in her powerful grip. 

      "Now don't go running that thing out of energy." She scolded him. "I'll be needing it."

      So that was it. That was why she wanted to kill Gray. She was after Navi; for what purpose, he couldn't begin to guess.

      "Navi; awa-"

      "Don't you dare!" She slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish the command. She grabbed Navi and pulled her forcibly off of Gray's arm. "I'll just keep this someplace safe." She said, tucking Navi into the pocket of her jeans. 

      "Now what shall I do with you?" The Virus wondered aloud, lifting Gray off his feet. "I know I could infect you. But I _don't_ know if I could stand having a Guardian working for me."

      She lifted her free hand, grinning as razor claws erupted from her fingertips.

      "I guess we'll just have to go with plan 'B'."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC 


	3. Guardiankiller

Diclaimer: MFE made and owns ReBoot.

*   *   *   *   *

Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 11- Guardiankiller

*   *   *   *   *

       Night came swiftly to Mainframe. The sky faded from blue to orange to black in a few microseconds. The stars appeared nanoseconds later, filling the sky with thousands of tiny pinpricks of light.

       Bob and Dot decided to take the long way back home from the Principal Office. Instead of heading straight for Baudway, they took a longer path through Kits Sector.

       "I hear you roughed up one of your players after the game." Dot said.

       Bob sighed. "It's just Megabyte." He said. "I don't know, Dot. I... It's not that I really expected being a Sprite to change him, but..."

       "The User himself couldn't change Megabyte." Dot said bitterly. These seconds, it seemed that no one in Mainframe hated Megabyte more than Dot did. Not even Matrix.

       Of course, Dot had good reason to hate Megabyte. It was bad enough that he had kidnapped and infected her, then used her Code to create a Sprite/Virus Hybrid. But then he mercilessly sent the girl to the Web, and certain deletion, just when Dot was beginning to turn her to good. 

       And to make matters worse, Dot was becoming convinced that the child in question, Terabyte, was the only one she would ever have.

       "You had the right idea, Bob." She said. "But some people just can't change. Virus, Sprite; it doesn't matter. Some people are simply evil."

       Bob frowned. Part of him knew that what Dot said was true. But it went against everything that he believed; that he had made himself believe for hours. Maybe it was foolishly optimistic to think that everyone had at least some good in them, but doing otherwise made the Net seem like a much worse place than Bob was willing to accept.

       "I have an idea." He said. "Why don't we play make-believe, and pretend we aren't the ones who have to worry about Megabyte?"

       "Sounds good to me." Dot said, smiling. "Who are we pretending to be?"

       "Just a man and a woman a few cycles away from their six minute anniversary going for an evening stroll."

       Dot smiled and hooked her arm around Bob's. "I could get used to this." She said. "We should definitely play make-believe more often."

       Bob was leaning in to kiss her when a vidwindow popped up in front of them.

       "Bob! Are you there?"

       "Turbo?" Bob blinked, surprised to see the Prime Guardian.

       "Am I interrupting anything?" Turbo asked.

       Of course he was interrupting something! But Bob shook his head nonetheless.

       "Of course not." He said. "What's wrong?"

       "We have a situation." Turbo replied. "How soon can you be ready to travel?"

       "Travel? Where am I going?"

       "I'd...rather not say." Turbo motioned semi-subtly toward Dot. "Not on an open channel."

       "Sir, Bob is this system's only full Guardian." Dot said. "I'm the Command.com, responsible for the safety Mainframe's citizens. If Bob's going to leave, I need to know why."

       "Of course." Turbo said. "My apologies."

       "What's going on?" Bob asked.

       "There's been a murder in the system of Powercell." Turbo said. "Mainframe is the closest system to Powercell and you're the only Guardian in that part of the Net. So you're going to head up the investigation."

       "Hold on, Sir." Bob said. "There's a Guardian stationed in Powercell, isn't there? Gray Edson. Why can't he run the investigation?"

       Turbo hesitated. "He's the one who's been murdered."

*   *   *   *   *

       "Do you have to leave right away?" AndrAIa asked.

       "Bob wants to get to Powercell ASAP, that means leaving ASAP." Matrix said.

       "Should you really be leaving at all though? With you and Bob out of the system, we'll be a little thin on defenders for games."

       "Mouse and Ray will be back in town in two seconds, they can pick up the slack." He paused, finally realizing that it wasn't fear of games that made AndrAIa less than enthusiastic about this trip. "Listen... This Gray guy; he and Bob were old friends. I think Bob just wants someone else there with him if he has to investigate his friend's murder."

       "Just be careful." AndrAIa said.

       "Don't worry." He said, hugging her. "We'll be back before you know we're gone."

*   *   *   *   *

       Powercell was, if possible, an even smaller system than Mainframe. The entire city rested on three 'v' shaped platforms; each platform was only slightly larger than one of Mainframe's sectors. Whereas Mainframe floated over the Energy C, Powercell couldn't generate the energy to levitate itself and had to be supported by six huge pylons that anchored the three sectors together and held the system up over the C.

       The top platform of Powercell housed the business district, which reminded Matrix of a smaller version of Baudway or Wall Street. But it also held the only visible park in the entire system, a small stretch of green in the center. The middle layer seemed to be the residential and entertainment district. The bottom layer was the industrial area that also hosted the lowlifes that could be found in even the smallest system.

       The search engine dropped them off at the data port on the top level. From there it was a fifteen-microsecond walk to the Principal Office. A pretty young Sprite in the uniform of a Guardian Cadet met them in front of the low, pyramidal structure.

       "The Supercomputer sent you?" She asked.

       "Guardian 452, Bob Interface." Bob nodded, offering a hand.

       "Guardian 452?" The girl stared slack-jawed at Bob for a moment. Then she eagerly shook his hand. "I'm Cadet Disa." She said, turning to Matrix. "And you are?"

       "Matrix." They shook hands.

       "You were training with Gray?" Bob asked.

       Disa's face fell immediately. Staring at her shoes, she nodded and mumbled a very quiet 'yes'.

       A long, uncomfortable silence ensued.

       "Well, the Chief wants to see you before you begin your investigation." Disa finally spoke up.

       Bob nodded. "Lead the way."

       Disa led them into the Principal Office. Just inside the main entrance, a side door led to the System's only police precinct. A handful of Binomes and one or two Sprites busied themselves about the office. Most looked up as the Guardians passed by. The Chief of Police was a thin '1' with a large, drooping mustache. He looked up when Disa knocked lightly on the door to his office.

       "The Guardians are here, Chief." She said.

       "Ah, come in!" Another round of handshakes commenced. "I didn't think you'd get here so soon."

       "Well it's only a short trip from Mainframe." Bob said.

       "Mainframe?" The Chief frowned. "I thought they were sending someone from the SuperComputer." He seemed disappointed.

       "Bob...I mean, Guardian 452 is one of the best Guardians in the Collective, Sir." Disa said. "You couldn't ask for a better investigator."

       "And...your friend?"

       "Matrix has been through most of the Guardian training program." Bob said. "He's completely qualified for this investigation."

       "Well...all right. If you say so." The Binome relented. "I suppose you'd like to start by inspecting the crime scene."

       "If it's not too much trouble." Bob nodded.

       "No trouble at all." The Chief replied. "It's on Level Three, in the industrial sector. I'll get an officer to take you there."

       "I can do that, Sir." Disa spoke up.

       "Are you sure, Miss Disa?"

       She nodded, somewhat reluctantly. "I'll be fine, thank you."

*   *   *   *   *

       Disa led Matrix and Bob down a long spiral stairway that looped around one of the support pillars. It was a long walk, but without Zip Boards, it was the quickest way to get to the crime scene.

       "How long were you with Gray?" Bob asked as they walked.

       "Two hours." Disa said. "I was supposed to graduate next minute but now...I don't know."

       "Any idea who might have done this?" Matrix asked.

       "None." Disa replied. "I can't believe it was anyone from Powercell. Everyone here loved Gray. But...no one comes to Powercell; we haven't had anyone come through the Net Port for six cycles, and that was just a supply ship, so it _had_ to be someone here."

       "Don't worry, Disa." Bob said. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

*   *   *   *   *

       Without the bright yellow police tape, the alleyway wouldn't have looked at all out of the ordinary. Of course, that was to be expected from a three-second-old crime scene. Even in the smallest systems, bitmaps were reclaimed almost immediately following deletion. Energy stains faded into transparency in a second or two. If a pair of Binomes hadn't ducked out of work for a quick smoke the morning after the murder, the crime would have gone completely unnoticed.

       "Glitch; Spectrum Scanner." Bob ran Glitch's lens over the walls. The invisible energy glowed bright blue under the lens. Bob felt his stomach turn; there wasn't a single surface in the dark alley left unmarked. Whoever had done this hadn't been content to simply delete Gray. For this kind of carnage, they must have literally torn him apart. Bob put Glitch away quickly; this was not the way he wanted to remember his friend; as a series of energy stains on a wall.

       "Well I can tell you two things about the deleter right away." He said.

       "Already?" Matrix asked.

       Bob nodded. "Number One: This is a strong individual; strong enough to dismember a grown Sprite without injury."

       Tears sprang to Disa's eyes. Bob placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

       "How do you know the killer wasn't injured?" Matrix asked.

       "There's only one energy type here." Bob said. "If Gray had been able to fight back at all, he would have made his attacker bleed.

       "Okay." Matrix nodded. "What's Number Two?"

       Bob frowned. "This wasn't a murder of necessity, or even a crime of passion. The level of cruelty goes way beyond anything a sane person would be capable of." He said. "Whoever did this...is completely random."

       "So an insane person with unbelievable strength is running around Powercell and we have no way of finding him?" Matrix asked. "Marvelous."

       "Not so fast." Bob said. "There may be a way." He turned to Disa. "I need to examine his keytool."

       "Well...uh..." Disa hesitated. "You...can't do that."

       "What? Why not?"

       "Well...Navi, she...she's gone too."

       "That can't be right." Bob said. "She should have been left behind where he died."

       "I know." Disa said. "But she was gone when they found..."

       Bob nodded, frowning deeply. "Then we have to assume that the killer took her."

       "Why would anyone steal a keytool?" Matrix asked. "It's not like they could use it."

       "I don't know." Bob said.

*   *   *   *   *

       "I don't get it, Mistress. Why steal the keytool?"

       Terabyte bit back a feral growl. She was quickly becoming annoyed with her lieutenant's habit of constantly questioning her orders. It had been a mistake to give him so much free will. If she could go back and infect him again, she would be sure to make him a simple, mindless drone.

       "It's necessary." She said, putting out her firewire and lighting a new one. "Now how soon can I expect the next target? Before I delete of old age?"

       Bryce, or the Viral who had once been called Bryce, threw a glance at the Binomes busy working the hacking utility.

       "Guardian safeguards are difficult to hack through, Mistress." He said. "But we should have the location of Surge by the end of the cycle."

       "Have it by the end of the second, or it's your head." Terabyte said coldly. "I'm sick and tired of waiting. And you're nowhere near amusing enough to keep you around if you fail me. Remember Bryce, these keytools are unique, but I can always find another lover."

       "Of course, Mistress." Bryce said. He hesitated. "May I speak freely, Mistress?"

       "Oh go ahead." Terabyte sighed.

       "It...may have been a bad idea to kill the Guardian."

       Terabyte threw her head back and laughed. "Oh please! Nothing that felt _that_ good could be bad."

       "You don't understand, Mistress. The Guardians do not tolerate one of their own being deleted. If they ever find you, they will throw their entire force at you. No trial, no mercy."

       "Heh." Terabyte snorted derisively. "By the time they figure out what's going on it'll be too late for them to do anything. And even if they do find out, let them come." She smiled. "It would be fun to destroy them all."

*   *   *   *   *

       On their second morning in Powercell, Disa led Bob and Matrix to a seedy bar a few blocks from the scene of Gray's murder.

       "What are we going here for?" Matrix asked.

       "This is where Gray always used to go for information." Disa said. "The guy who runs it is...a little unorthodox, but he might know something we can use."

       The bar was empty this early in the second, except for the bartender, a pudgy, balding Sprite with dark orange skin. What hair he had left was jet black, though a few streaks of gray poked through where his dye job had apparently missed.

       "Disa!" He called out. "I was just thinkin' this place could use a little brightenin' up, and in strolls the loveliest Sprite in..."

       "Knock it off, Wally." Disa snapped. "I'm in no mood for you to play basic. You know Gray was deleted."

       "Hey! I had nothin' to do with that!" Wally said quickly. 

       "You're pretty quick to deny things, buddy." Matrix said. "Guilty conscience?"

       "I was at home all night." Wally said. "Ask my landlady!"

       "Oh I will."

       "Have you seen anything strange lately, Wally?" Disa asked. "Anyone new in town? Maybe someone Viral."

       "Hey, you're the Guardian, sweet-cheeks. I'm just a barkeep."

       "Actually, you're a Worm." Bob said. "Benign, I'd say, but you would know what goes on in Viral circles."

       "What?" Matrix took a closer look at Wally. Disa simply stared at Bob with her jaw somewhere around her knees.

       "It's the eyes." Bob explained. "Hard to see in this light, but they're red on red. Classic sign of an E-Mail Worm." He glanced at Disa. "You knew."

       "Well, yeah, but only 'cause Gray told me." She said. 

       "You got some pretty good eyes yourself, pal." Wally said. He seemed impressed. "Most people never notice."

       Bob took the compliment in stride. "The question stands." He said. "Any new Viruses in town?"

       "You our new Guardian?" Wally asked.

       Bob shook his head. "Just an investigator."

       "Well either way, Disa should have explained how it works with me. Information ain't free. Actually it can get pretty expensive."

       "You trying to blackmail us?" Matrix demanded.

       "No." Wally said calmly. "If I threatened to tell people you were a muscle-bound, one-eyed freak unless you paid me not to, _that_ would be blackmail. This is just business."

       "Why you...!"

       "Listen Pal. The kind of information I got can get a guy deleted if certain parties found out he was givin' it away. I ain't gonna stick my neck out unless I'm gettin' paid, and paid well."

       Bob sighed and grabbed a little paper napkin from the bar. He scribbled some numbers on the napkin and slid it to Wally.

       "I think that should cover whatever we need to know and then some."

       Wally's eyes widened. He whistled softly. "How can I help you, gentlemen?"

       "Newcomers." Disa prompted him.

       "Oh, right. Well there was this one chick came through here a few nights ago, never saw her before. Looked kinda young, about your age, Disa. But I tell ya, that girl drank like a faqin' fish."

       "What did she look like? Bob asked.

       "Hot as Dell, I'll tell ya that for free." Wally said. "But kinda creepy, ya know. Gave me the jaggies just lookin' at her." He thought for a moment. "Green skin. Dark hair, couldn't tell the color too well. Didn't get a look at her eyes, she wore shades the whole time. Must have been some kinda Virus though. She had, like, a crown thing on her head. Some sorta red crest, I dunno; I didn't get too good a look."

       A chill went through Bob as Wally described the young woman. He felt Matrix stiffen next to him. Wally must have noticed the look on their faces. 

       "You two know this broad?"

       "It can't be..." Matrix said.

       "What is it?" Disa asked.

       "We...knew someone who matches that description." Bob said. "But she died over an hour ago."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

*   *   *   *   * 


	4. Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer: ReBoot belongs to Mainframe Entertainment. That's all.

*   *   *   *   *

Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 100- Home Sweet Home

*   *   *   *   *

       The search engine cruised through the net, passing small systems, routers, and amplifiers on its way to Mainframe.

       "Once we get to Mainframe, we can make a portal to the SuperComputer for you." Bob told Disa.

       "Thanks." The girl said. She hesitated. "Were you serious...about letting me finish my training in Mainframe?"

       "If that's what you want to do, I don't see why not. But it _will_ have to wait until this situation is resolved." Bob said.

       "And you're sure it's this...virus girl?"

       "It's Terabyte." Matrix said. "I don't see how it could be anyone else."

       "There aren't many people who match the description Wally gave us." Bob agreed.

       "Is she really that dangerous?" Disa asked.

       "You saw what she did to Gray." Matrix replied. "...sorry."

       "No...it's all right." She said, wiping at her eyes self-consciously. "I just...have to get used to him not being around."

       "It gets easier." Bob said, giving her a smile.

       "Promise?"

*   *   *   *   *

       Mainframe was silent as the search engine landed. It was the middle of the night and the entire system seemed to be asleep.

       "You want me to call a meeting?" Matrix asked.

       "We'll do that in the morning." Bob said. "No need to get everyone up for bad news."

       Matrix nodded. "What about Dot?"

       Bob shook his head. "I don't know. I mean, obviously I have to tell her." He said. "I just don't know how."

*   *   *   *   *

       Matrix agreed to help Disa find a place to stay so Bob could go home and deal with Dot. Deal with Dot...that was one way of putting it. What was he supposed to say? How did you tell someone that the daughter they had given up for deleted almost an hour earlier was alive? How did you tell them that same girl had savagely murdered someone, making herself the Guardian Collective's number one enemy in the process?

       It wouldn't be easy, that was for sure. In some ways, Dot had never fully recovered from the events surrounding Terabyte's birth and 'death'. That one hellish cycle still haunted her.

       And now he had to make things even worse. He had to tell her that the nightmare wasn't over yet.

*   *   *   *   *

       Terabyte dropped her latest victim, frowning at the energy that had splattered all over her. The Guardian's bitmap vanished an instant later, leaving her keytool lying on the ground. Terabyte bent down and picked up the little device. Two down, two to go; this was almost too easy.

       "See Bryce." She said. "Maybe now you understand why the wrath of the mighty Guardian Collective is the least of my worries."

       "Of course, Mistress."

       "What's our next target?"

       "We haven't located the systems yet, Mistress." Bryce said. "But we have the names. Copeland and Glitch."

       "Glitch?" Terabyte whipped around. With energy soaking her clothes and dripping down her face, her eyes red with fury, Terabyte advanced on Bryce, pushing the big sprite backwards through sheer intimidating force. "Did you say 'Glitch'?"

       "Y-yes...Mistress."

       Terabyte was silent for a moment. Then she began to giggle, then to laugh out loud.

       "Mistress?" Bryce said tentatively. He had long suspected that Terabyte was slightly unhinged, but until now, he hadn't realized how far gone she really was.

       "Oh it's a small Net after all." She said, smiling wickedly. "I know where Glitch is."

       "You do?"

       "Oh yes." She fought back another fit of laughter. "It's in Mainframe. Get the search engine ready; you're going to take me back home." As suddenly as her laughter had begun, it vanished, replaced by a mask of hatred and fury. "So I can burn it to the ground!" She screamed.

*   *   *   *   *

       "Dot?" Bob called quietly into the darkened bedroom.

       Dot sat up in bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Bob, you're back?"

       Bob nodded and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.

       "What's wrong?" Dot asked, seeing the look on his face. "Did you catch the guy?"

       "...Not yet." Bob said.

       "But you know who did it?"

       "Yeah...we know." 

       "Bob." Dot turned his head, looking in his eyes. "Why are you being so evasive? If it's classified or something, just tell me and I'll..."

       "It's Terabyte."

       Dot almost laughed just from surprise, but she caught herself. She pulled away from him quickly. "That's not funny, Bob."

       "I know." He said.

       "You...you can't be serious." Dot said. "That's not possible."

       "We have a witness who..."

       "She's dead, Bob." Dot insisted. "You said it yourself; there was no way she could have survived the Web."

       "I don't know how she did it, but she's alive." Bob said.

       "This can't be happening." Dot whispered. "Why would she kill a Guardian?" A thought seemed to occur to her. "Oh no! They'll delete her, won't they? She killed a Guardian, she'll have the entire Collective after her!"

       "I'm not going to let that happen." Bob said. "Right now, only three people know about this. I know I can convince Turbo to keep it quiet for at least a while."

       "But what can we...?"

       "We'll come up with something." He assured her. "Even if the other Guardians do get involved, we can still keep her alive as long as they don't find her before we do."

       "And then what?"

       "Well...if we capture her alive, she'll go to trial."

       "And then when she's convicted, they'll delete her." She began to cry softly.

       "Not necessarily." Bob said.

       "What's the other option?" Dot asked bitterly. "Lock her up until she's obsolete? Where would they send her? A prison where the other Sprites will hate her for being part Virus, or a Quarantine Unit where other Viruses will hate her for being part Sprite? She'd be better off deleted."

       Bob reached out and hugged Dot tightly. "It's going to be all right." He said. "Somehow, I'm going to make everything work out."

*   *   *   *   *

       The next morning, everyone assembled in the Principal Office. Bob could tell immediately that Matrix had told AndrAIa about Terabyte, but no one else seemed to know. He stepped forward.

       "This goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. What I'm about to say _cannot_ leave this room. I've asked Cadet Disa here because of her connection to the case."

       "Enough suspense, Bob." Mouse said. "What's goin' on?"

       Bob sighed. "Terabyte is alive." The room went silent. Bob had everyone's attention now. "She deleted a Guardian in Powercell and her current whereabouts are unknown."

       "How did she survive the Web?" Ray asked.

       "Actually I was hoping you'd have an answer for that." Bob said.

       "Well unless that armor of hers can function as a web suit, I don't see how she could have done it."

       "That is a possibility." Welman said. "Megabyte was still partially a Web Virus when he made her. She could be a Web Virus too."

       "I think what we must concentrate on at this point is stopping Terabyte." Phong said.

       "WON'T THE GUARDIANS DO THAT?" Clash asked.

       "We have to find her first." Bob said. "The Guardians aren't prepared to fight her, and she wouldn't seem to be a threat if they saw her. We've got to find her before they get killed trying. Also they would delete her on sight, but we need her alive for questioning."

       "Questionin'?" 

       "That's right. She stole her victim's keytool. I'd like to know why. If she took it for herself, I want to know why. If she's working for someone else, we all need to know who."

       "What are you gonna tell Turbo?" Matrix asked.

       "The same thing I just told you." Bob said. "We need her alive. He'll listen to me."

*   *   *   *   *

       "You're not listening to me!" Bob said, pacing in front of the vidwindow.

       "I heard you just fine." Turbo said. "This...girl deleted a Guardian and you're suggesting that we let her get away with it. I know you have...ideas about Viruses, but this is going too far!"

       "I'm not saying she should get away with it, but if you send out executioners to delete her on sight, we'll never know why she stole Navi." Bob said.

       "Be realistic, Bob." Turbo said. "Chances are she destroyed those keytools."

       "Keytools? As in, more than one keytool?" Bob asked. "What do you mean?"

       Turbo frowned. "There was another killing last night, Jade Cernet. Same M.O. as Edson."

       "And her keytool?"

       "Surge. Also missing." Turbo said.

       "Why didn't you tell me?" Bob asked.

       "I only found out a nano or two before you called."

       "I just...have a feeling. There's something more here; she didn't just kill them for the dell of it. She's doing this for a reason, I just know it."

       "You really think she stole the keytools?"

       "Yes." Bob said. "Call it...intuition."

       "You're lucky, Bob." Turbo said. "I trust your intuition more than some people's facts."

       "Then you'll let me try to find her?"

       "No. I can't afford to lose another Guardian." Turbo said. "What I'm going to do is hold off on releasing this information for a while. I can't hold it for very long though. The best I can give you is two seconds to come up with some proof for your theory."

       "Thank you."

       Turbo shrugged. "I just hope you're wrong. What do you need?"

       "I need all the information from the second crime scene forwarded to Mainframe."

       "Done." Turbo said. "Anything else?"

       "All the information you've got on Gray, Jade and their keytools. Maybe I can find a connection."

       "I'll get it all sent."

       "Thanks Turbo." Bob said.

       "Just be careful, Bob. And don't try to go after her on your own, bring me whatever you find and _I'll_ decide where we go from there."

*   *   *   *   *

       Enzo was out of his desk and through the door three nanoseconds after the last bell of the second rang. It was the cycle-end, and Bob had gotten into town sometime last night. That meant if he was lucky, he might get to hear about whatever Guardian business had taken him out of the system.

       It was so cool having Bob as his actual brother; well, brother-in-law. It had been a little weird at first, all three of them living in the same apartment, but Enzo had gotten used to that quickly. Now it was just great to have Bob around all the time.

       Enzo was about to turn his Zip Board onto Baudway when a man stepped into his path. Enzo braked hard to avoid running over the man, even as alarm bells sounded in his head. This guy was a Sprite, but Enzo didn't recognize him. And since there weren't many Sprites left in Mainframe, that meant he was probably from another system, a stranger. Plus the guy was acting weird, deliberately stepping into the path of a Zip Board.

       "Enzo Matrix?"

       That was it. Enzo knew better than to give a stranger his filename, he spun his board around and ran straight into another Sprite. It was a girl, thin and slightly taller than Enzo, staring down at him and smoking a firewire. Looking up, he saw his sister's face. But this wasn't Dot, she was younger, with longer hair and a cold sneer on her face. Besides, Dot had never smoked in her life; never.

       "Uncle Enzo." The girl said. "So good to see you again."

       "Terabyte!" He gasped. "How..."

       "Sorry, no time for stories right now." She nodded to her companion, who immediately grabbed Enzo.

       "Hey!" Enzo yelled. "Let me go! Help! Somebody he-"

       Terabyte covered his mouth with one hand, lifting the other up so he could see the claws extending from her fingertips.

       "I don't like noisy little Sprites." Terabyte said. "So just be quiet, and I won't have to get...ugly."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

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	5. The First Virus

Disclaimer: Same as always...

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Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

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*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 101- The First Virus

*   *   *   *   *

      "Well someone must know where he is!" Dot yelled at the police officer on the vidwindow. "He's the only Sprite his age in the entire system, he shouldn't be that hard to find!"

      "Mrs. Interface?" Dot turned to see Cadet Disa behind her. "Are you alright?"

      "Have you seen Bob?" Dot asked.

      "He's with um...the uh...old guy?"

      "Phong?"

      "Yeah, Phong." Disa smiled nervously. "They're getting ready to transfer the data from the Supercomputer. Did you need something?"

      "Well...Enzo's missing and..."

      "Your little brother?"

      "Yeah. He probably just went to a friend's house without calling, but with everything else that's going on..."

      "Right." Disa nodded. "Well I can go get Bob and..."

      "No." Dot said quickly. "This download is more important. I'm...probably just imagining things anyway."

      "I could go look for him if you'd like."

      "Really?"

      "Sure." Disa said. "I'd love to help out."

*   *   *   *   *

      "I'd love to help out." Disa muttered to herself as she made her way through Baudway. The sector was larger than all of Powercell put together. "I'd also love to have a clue where I am."

      She looked around, studying the map Dot had given her. "Okay, the school is...there." She turned to face the school building. "So to get home, he would have gone...this way." She set off down the sidewalk.

      Disa rounded a corner and found a Zip Board lying in the middle of the sidewalk. It was a small board; cheap and scuffed up, probably from tricking off railings and half-pipes. It definitely belonged to a kid. And while it wasn't the nicest board in the Net, it wasn't the kind of thing any kid would just leave lying around.

      Disa bent down and examined the board. If it did belong to Enzo, then Dot's fears had been correct and something had happened to him. If it belonged to someone else, then something had happened to that person. Either way, her Guardian protocols wouldn't let her just walk away. 

      Disa picked up the board and looked around the street. If whoever owned the board had been abducted, the kidnappers probably wouldn't have dragged them down the street. Sure enough, half a block down a narrow alley led off the main street. 

      The Alley was dark and a little creepy. Rather than letting out onto another street, it ended in a solid wall. If the abductors had taken their captive in here - and she had to assume that they had - then there had to be another exit from the alley. Sure enough, a few windows set into the brick walls at foot level seemed to indicate basements. Using all the stealth and caution she had learned at the Academy and honed to perfection training in the field with Gray, Disa crept silently to the first window and peered inside.

      Nothing. An empty basement rec room with a few beanbag chairs that looked like giant Nulls and a pool table. The next two windows in line offered similar results. There was only one window left. Disa knelt down next to it and looked inside.

      Evidently, the fourth time was the charm. The room was unfurnished except for a single folding chair. Tied to the chair, struggling futilly against a file-lock, was a kid of about 1.2. His bright green skin and dark hair matched Dot's perfectly and his face was like a younger version of Matrix. This had to be Enzo.

      Disa was searching for a way to open with window that didn't involve breaking the glass when she heard footsteps behind her.

      "What are you doing?" A girl's voice asked.

      Disa jumped and stood up, spinning around. Across from her stood a girl about her age, dressed in tight black jeans and a loose-fitting silk shirt. She had the same skin and hair as Enzo, Dot and Matrix, but a red, metallic crest, almost a crown, rose up from beneath the hair. Her eyes were like nothing Disa had ever seen, pure green with burning red pupils. 

      "You..." Disa whispered.

      "What's this?" The girl laughed. "_Another Guardian? Just how many of you are there?"_

      "You're Terabyte." Disa said. "You killed Gray."

      "Very astute, Guardian." Terabyte nodded. "I am Terabyte. And I deleted your 'Gray'; took him apart piece by piece." She grinned coldly. "Care to see how?"

*   *   *   *   *

      The Principal office was eerily quiet when Mouse and Ray stepped through the shimmering portal into the main chamber. A few Binomes hurried about their business, but no one came to greet the new arrivals, or even seemed to notice their presence. Of course, they had only been gone a few milliseconds, securing the traps Mouse had set around Mainframe's Web address, just in case Terabyte decided to pay them a visit.

      "Sure ya can't hang around a while?" Mouse asked

      "Wish I could, love. Duty calls." Ray said

      Mouse frowned. Ever since the Guardians hired Ray as their own professional Web expert, it seemed they never got to spend any time together. And with Terabyte alive and loose in the Net, things were only going to get worse.

      "Well if you manage to get a few seconds free any time soon, you know where Ah'll be" She said.

      Ray nodded, stepping back into the Portal. "See you soon."

      "Not soon enough." Mouse whispered once the Portal had vanished. She turned and headed for the war room.

      Dot was in the war-room monitoring a data transfer, presumeably the evidence being sent from the Supercomputer. The download was almost complete. A few more microseconds and it would be done.

      "Ah'm back." Mouse greeted her friend.

      Dot acknowledged her with a nod. "How's it look."

      "Everythin's just the way we left it." Mouse said. "Those traps can zap a pixel from a micron away."

      "Good work, Mouse. Thanks." Dot said absently.

      "You okay, Dot?" Mouse asked.

      Dot sighed. "As good as can be expected."

      "If ya need to talk about..."

      "No." Dot said. "Thanks but...I just need to take this one step at a time."

      "Fair enough." Mouse said. "Need any help here?"

      "Yeah." Dot smiled. "Could you help them scan the incoming data."

      "Sure thing."

*   *   *   *   *

      Disa couldn't understand why she was still processing. Surely Terabyte had deleted Gray faster than this.

      She had tried to fight back at first. Her training in hand to hand combat had been extensive; theoretically, she should have been able to at least defend herself. But Terabyte was simply too fast, too strong. After a while, she had stopped counting the blows and remained still, waiting for the Virus to finish beating her to death.

      "Pathetic!" Terabyte yelled. "You're not even a real Guardian yet, are you? At least the others died fighting!"

      Somehow, Disa managed to stagger to her feet. One eye was swollen shut, the other stung and blurred as energy flowed over it from a gash on her forehead. Terabyte stood before her, extending razor claws from her fingertips. 

      "Well I must say I'm _very_ disappointed." Terabyte said. "I was hoping to have some fun with you. But this was just...boring."

      Terabyte seemed ready to deliver the deleting blow when the sky above them darkened, becoming a hazy, greenish orange.

      --DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. VIRAL SCAN COMMENCING.-- Terabyte was momentarily distracted by the System Voice. Disa took the opportunity to run. Well, run wasn't the correct word. Stagger would have been closer. Terabyte seemed to notice Disa's less-than-stealthy retreat. A feral, almost animal growl rumbled up from the girl's throat. She lunged straight at Disa...and froze in midair. 

      --VIRUS DETECTED. CLASS: UNKNOWN. ATTEMPTING VIRAL QUARANTINE.--

      Terabyte struggled, crying out in frustration as an invisible force held her in place. Disa didn't bother to see whether Terabyte would break free or not. She turned and headed back for the main street as fast as she could. Everything in her screamed against leaving without rescuing Enzo, but common sense overrode even Guardian protocols. She couldn't help Enzo if Terabyte deleted her.

*   *   *   *   *

      Megabyte had had a strange feeling all second. A little, nagging pressure in the back of his mind. If he had still been a Virus, he would have assumed that he was sensing another of his kind. Premonitions like that were rare, but not unheard of.

      But he was no longer a Virus; he was a Sprite. And if there was one thing he had learned about Sprites in his runtime, it was that they were fragile. This feeling could be a symptom of a larger problem, an illness or injury, perhaps even life threatening. 

      After spending all morning trying everything he could think of the get rid of the feeling. Megabyte finally decided it was time to seek outside assistance. It was not a prospect he relished. There was only one person in Mainframe who knew enough about Sprite medicine to diagnose him...Phong. Going to see Phong was never a pleasant experience, no matter what the reason. Even less so when it involved his health and admitting, once again, that he was now just as weak, just as frail, just as mortal as all the rest of them.

      He was within sight of the Principal Office when the sky darkened and the System Voice called out that a Viral Scan was beginning.

      _Well, I don't have to worry about_ those _any more._ Megabyte thought bitterly.

      --VIRUS DETECTED. CLASS: UNKNOWN. ATTEMPTING VIRAL QUARANTINE.--

      Megabyte stopped short just past the school building. There _was_ another Virus in Mainframe. And from the sound of the Anti-Viral software working, it was somewhere nearby. He quickened his pace, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new virus. However, when he was right on top of the noise, a young Sprite with gray skin and light blue hair burst out of the alley in front of him, practically falling into his arms. 

      "Help..." The girl gasped before passing out. Megabyte caught her out of pure reflex as she fell.

      Back in the darkened alley, he heard the sound of something strong tear through the viral scanner's restraints and run off in the opposite direction. If he dropped the girl and ran, he could probably catch up with whoever it was. But closer inspection of the girl in his arms revealed two things; she was a Guardian Cadet, and she was at deletion's door. If he left her here, she would almost certainly be dead in a few microseconds. That wouldn't have troubled him, except that a small crowd of Binomes had seen him catch her. If he left her here to erase, they would report that to Bob and he would never hear the end of it. Grudgingly, Megabyte picked up the girl and carried her to the Principal Office.

*   *   *   *   *

      All the monitors in the war room lit up red as the System Voice announced the presence of a Virus in Mainframe.

      "Location?" Dot asked urgently.

      A set of crosshairs appeared on the targeting map. The crosshairs centered on a residential area near Baudway, uncomfortably close to the school.

      "Enzo!" Dot rushed out of the war room without another word.

      "Dot! Wait!" Bob called after her, running to catch up.

      They were greeted on the steps of the Principal Office by Megabyte. Disa lay in his arms, lifeless as a doll. Every part of her not covered by her uniform was dark with bruises. Energy flowed from her nose and mouth, and from several cuts on her face. One of her eyes was swollen shut and her right arm looked to be broken.

      "Oh, User!" Dot whispered.

      "Megabyte!" Bob half-yelled, half-growled.

      "Don't look at me, Bob." Megabyte said. "She was like this when I found her. I would suggest we get her inside. Quickly."

*   *   *   *   *

      "How bad is it, Phong?" Bob asked.

      "Very bad, I am afraid." Phong said. "The cuts and broken arm were easy enough to fix. However, she seems to have suffered internal injuries that may or may not heal. And she has suffered several concussions, as well. Which means that permanent file corruption is a possibility. If Megabyte had not found her when he did..."

      "Who would do something like this?" Dot asked.

      "One person I know of." Bob said. "But...she can't be here."

      "Bob...Dot..." Mouse popped up in a vidwindow. "You'd better get up here. There's...a call for you."

*   *   *   *   *

      The main view screen was filled with Terabyte's face. Dot bit back tears at the sight of her daughter. In many ways, Terabyte looked exactly the same, as if she hadn't aged a second. Yet at the same time, she seemed infinitely older than before. And she had a hard, cold look about her. The smile that crossed her face when she saw Dot was absolutely chilling.

      "Hello, Mother." She said. "Good to see you."

      "Terabyte... How...?"

      "How did I get here?" Terabyte laughed. "Those little traps were all designed to let only Mainframers through. Well, I was compiled here, wasn't I?"

      "What do you want Terabyte?" Dot asked. "Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting all these people?"

      "It's a means to an end." Terabyte said. "But if you'd really like to know what I want," She pointed to Bob. "I want him."

      "Me?" Bob asked.

      "Well not you personally, though deleting will be a special treat. I want your little toy."

      "Glitch?"

      "That's right. Glitch. And I want you to get whoever has the one called 'Copeland' and bring him here, too."

      "What are you trying to do, Terabyte?" Dot asked.

      "I'm sending a message, Mother." The Half-Virus replied, stroking the jewel around her neck absently. "A very special message...for the entire Net. You see, I'm just the first peal of thunder, the signal of what's to come. You can't imagine the storm I herald. Ask my father. He'll know what I mean."

      "Terabyte, please..." Dot pleaded. "You have to stop this. We can work this out."

      "No!" Terabyte screamed, her face contorting with rage. "I fell for that once before! And what did it earn me? A one-way ticket into the Web! _Don't_ think I'll be so basic again!"

      "Terabyte..."

      "Shut up! No more talking! This is what's going to happen. You get on the line to the other Guardians and bring Copeland here. Then we'll all have a little...date in Floating Point Park."

      "Why should we do anything you say?" Bob asked.

      Terabyte smiled, that chilling, evil grin. The vidwindow swung around, revealing Enzo, tied to a chair and gagged.

      "Because if I don't have Glitch and Copeland in my hands by this time next second... Well let's just say there won't be enough left of Uncle Enzo for the System to recycle."

      "You wouldn't!" Dot said.

      The grin disappeared from Terabyte's face, leaving only harsh, unfeeling sincerity. "Yes...I...would."

      The vidwindow closed.

      "Glitch:" Bob said quietly, "Communicator. Contact Turbo."

*   *   *   *   *

      Terabyte shut off the vidwindow and pulled a spare chair over to where Enzo was bound and gagged. After working the gag loose, she sat down backwards in the chair across from him, her arms resting on the chair's back.

      "Are you scared of me?" She asked.

      Enzo nodded, too terrified to speak.

      "I'm not evil, you know."

      Enzo whispered something.

      "What was that?"

      "You murder people." He said.

      "Only because it's what I was made to do." Terabyte said. "I can't go against my Code."

      "You're lying." Enzo said. "Deleting isn't in your code, you just like it."

      Terabyte lit a firewire and blew the smoke into Enzo's face, grinning as the young Sprite coughed. "But you see, I'm not killing without reason. I have a destiny, you know. And if the path to my destiny must be paved with corpses, so be it."

      "Are you just trying to scare me, or have you always talked like a character from a bad .mpeg?"

      "Watch your mouth, little Sprite!" Terabyte growled.

      "Or what?" Enzo asked, getting back some of his courage. "You'll delete me? You can't do that before this time next second or your deal is off."

      Terabyte smiled and extended a single claw, running it ever so lightly over Enzo's cheek.

      "Silly little boy." She whispered. "I don't have to delete you to make you wish you'd never been initialized."

*   *   *   *   *

      Turbo had been understandably shocked at the news of Terabyte's ultimatum and the resulting hostage situation. He had wanted to portal over to Mainframe on the spot, but had agreed to look up one more piece of information for Bob before leaving, acting on a hunch that terrified them both. Half a millisecond later, he stepped through a portal into the war room.

      "How's Disa?" He asked.

      "Critical but stable." Bob said. "She should pull through. What did you find out?" 

      "It's just as we feared." Turbo said. "That jewel Terabyte wears is a fractal seed, the result of wavelet compression."

      "Wavelet compression?" Matrix asked. "What's that?"

      "It is a very powerful form of file compression." Phong said. "But to my knowledge it has only been used once." Phong looked at Turbo, silently begging him not to confirm his fears.

      Turbo nodded grimly. "Exabyte."

      "Not _the_ Exabyte!" Welman said.

      "I'm afraid so." Turbo replied.

      "Ah think a lot of us missed somethin' here." Mouse said. "Who...or what...is Exabyte?"

      "You may know her by a different title." Phong said. "She who Must Not be Filenamed."

      The color seemed to go out of Mouse's face in an instant. "You mean the First Virus?"

      "But that's just a legend." Welman said. "A myth."

      "I am afraid not, my friend." Phong said, shaking his head. "Like all legends, this one is based on truth."

      "Wait a nano." Matrix said. "If this Exabyte is the first virus, she shouldn't be too powerful. Weren't the earliest viruses pretty weak?"

      "She's not actually the first virus ever. She got that name by being the most destructive. She _was_ the first threat ever faced by the Guardians though, before the Collective was even formed." Bob said. "It's also said that she was the most powerful enemy the Guardians have _ever_ faced."

      "What kind of Virus is she?" Dot asked.

      "That's the problem." Turbo said. "If the legend is to be believed, she's not actually a Virus."

      "So what is she?" AndrAIa asked. Bob, Turbo, and Phong were all silent. "Guys. What is she?"

      "Exabyte is a goddess, my child." Phong said quietly. "She is a User."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC

*   *   *   *   *


	6. Decompression Sickness

Disclaimer: Oh you know the drill.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

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*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 110- Decompression Sickness

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

      When the glow had faded, the sprites uncovered their eyes and dared to look.

      "Did we...win?" Lain asked.

      "Look." Interface pointed at the seed. "What's that?"

      "We failed." The leader said. "It didn't destroy Exabyte. It compressed her into that. A Fractal Seed."

      "So she could be decompressed?" Interface asked.

      "Yes. If a Virus ever got enough power, it could decompress the seed and release her."

      "Can't we destroy the seed?"

      "Impossible." The leader shook his head. "That little jewel contains all of Exabyte's power, it would take a magnet bigger than the Net itself just to put a scratch on it."

      "So what do we do with it?" Lain asked.

      "The Web!" Interface said.

      "What?"

      "Think about it." He continued. "The Web is much larger than the Net, from what we see it's spammed near infinite, and it's nearly impossible to survive there. Plus outside the four of us, nobody in the Net knows the Web exists. If we shot the seed in there, no one would ever find it."

      "It's risky." The commander said. "We know Exabyte can influence her children even when she's compressed. She'll have them all looking for the seed."

      "All the more reason to hide it where no one would ever want to look." Interface said. "If this works, no one will ever find her."

*   *   *   *   *

  *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Mainframe

The Present

*   *   *   *   *

      "Bob." Someone was shaking him gently. "Bob, wake up." 

      Bob sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Dot was leaning over him, looking concerned. It took Bob a moment to recognize his surroundings. He was in the read only room, surrounded by vidwindows, graphs, charts, and ancient readme files. 

      Slowly, the past few milliseconds came back to him. They had all been researching the history files late into the night, looking for any information that might be useful in preventing Exabyte's restoration. He must have fallen asleep.

      "What time is it?"

      "1400." Dot said.

      Bob groaned. Three milliseconds. In three milliseconds, Terabyte expected him to hand over Glitch and Copeland, or she would delete Enzo. Bob bore no illusions about the girl's mental state. If her demands were not met in precisely the way she described, Enzo wouldn't live to see the next second. But if she got the keytools, and Exabyte arose, they would be lucky if _any_ of them made it out alive.

      They needed a plan, some way to rescue Enzo without surrendering the keytools. The problem was that Terabyte seemed to be completely random. An insane enemy was the last thing you ever wanted to fight because madness bred unpredictability. No amount of planning could account for an enemy whose attitude and tactics could change at any time, and for no reason.

      "This is bad." He said, almost to himself. "This...is very bad."

*   *   *   *   *

      Terabyte gritted her teeth, looking away even as she jabbed the needle into her arm. She had always hated needles; her first clear memories were of her injections and the searing pain that followed. But she couldn't avoid needles any more, because the syringe, once a source of pain, was now the only thing capable of taking it away.

      The pain had started small at first, a dull ache in her bones that began just after she escaped from the Web. Back then, an I/O shot or two was all it took to make the pain go away. As the pain intensified, more and stronger drinks were needed. Eventually, no amount of drink could help, at which point she had started using Dust. That had worked for a while, but eventually the pain overpowered even that.

      So here she was, injecting herself with enough tranquilizers to put down a full-grown web creature. And even that was becoming ineffective. But it didn't matter now. By the end of the second, her goddess would be free. And she would undoubtedly reward the faithful servant who ended her forced slumber. Terabyte smiled; the Great One, Exabyte, had spoken to Terabyte from her jeweled prison. She had learned the Great One's history, and had a glimpse of her power. She had only to ask and the pain would be gone forever.

      "So you're a junkie too?" Enzo asked.

      "Don't make me gag you again." Terabyte warned the boy through gritted teeth. "This is strictly medicinal."

      "Whatever." Enzo said.

      "I wouldn't suggest being so rude to the Great One when she awakens." Terabyte said. "She doesn't have my sweet and gentle disposition."

      "I'm not worried about that." Enzo said. "Bob will never give you Glitch."

      "Oh?" Terabyte smiled. "So your brother-in-law, your childhood hero, will just allow me to delete you, and you aren't worried?"

      "I didn't say that. He'll find a way to get me out of here without giving you anything."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Where did she get the seed, Megabyte?" Bob asked. "And don't tell me you just had it lying around."

      "It found me during my little trip to the Web." Megabyte replied.

      "You mean you found it, right?"

      "I mean exactly what I said." Megabyte said. "When I first arrived in the Web, after getting over my surprise at being able to survive, I infected a few Web Riders and had them take me to the nearest portal back to the Net. Before we got there, however, I felt...something drew me into a data storm. The storm parted for me, then closed again deleting my companions when they tried to follow. The seed was floating there in the center of the storm. It called to me, and told me where I could find the surfr to take me back to Mainframe."

      "It talked to you?"

      "More than that, Guardian." Megabyte said. "Weren't you listening? The seed wasn't just floating in that data storm. It was controlling it. Between that little jewel and Terabyte, I'd say the former is the greater of your concerns. Now that they've teamed up...I can't imagine how you plan to stop them."

      "But it's just a stone!" Matrix said. "It's an inanimate object. I mean, if Exabyte's that powerful compressed, why go to all the trouble of decompressing her at all?"

      "Because despite its ability to affect its surroundings, the seed can only exert the barest fraction of Exabyte's full power."

      "Wait. Give us a nano to process this." Turbo said. "This thing can control a data storm, and that's only 'the barest fraction'?"

      Megabyte nodded.

      "Okay." AndrAIa said. "I think we're all suitably scared now. So what are we going to do about it?"

      "In my professional opinion as someone who was once a Virus, I would suggest formatting a last will and testament."

      "That's not funny, Megabyte." Bob said.

      "No." Megabyte agreed. "It isn't."

*   *   *   *   *

      "He has a point, though." Turbo said after Megabyte had left. "If we don't show up with the Keytools, Enzo will die. But if we give them to her and let her raise Exabyte, everyone in the Net could die. Even the Guardians can't fight a User."

      Bob shook his head. "I don't believe in the no-win scenario. There's a way out of this. We just haven't figured it out yet."

      "Yeah." Matrix said. "But can we figure it out in the millisecond we have left?"

      "I just don't believe Terabyte would kill Enzo." Dot said. "Deleting strangers is one thing, but he's her family. She can't have sunk that low... Can she?"

      "I hope not." Bob said. "But we have to take her at her word, for Enzo's sake."

*   *   *   *   *

      "It's time. Let's go." Terabyte said, deactivating the file lock that held Enzo in place. Enzo took the opportunity to stretch his legs; after milliseconds seated, his limbs had fallen asleep. Before he could even work the feeling back into his legs, Terabyte's assistant, Bryce, grabbed him roughly by the collar.

      "You heard her." The big Sprite said, pushing Enzo forward. "Move it!"

      "I can walk on my own you know!" Enzo snapped.

      "Of course you can." Terabyte said. "You can also run on your own. And if you were to run, for argument's sake, _away_, the consequences for poor Bryce would be extraordinarily painful." She shook her head. "I very much doubt he'll be letting you out of arm's length. I mean I haven't known him that long, but he's always struck me as the type who enjoys having all four limbs."

      Bryce was silent as always, but his eyes betrayed his emotion. Infection may have made him Terabyte's slave; but enough of his will was left that he was utterly terrified of his mistress. Which meant that if Terabyte told Bryce to guard him, Enzo didn't have a shot in dell of getting away. All he could do was trust Bob and Dot to get him out of this alive.

*   *   *   *   *

      Floating Point was eerily silent. Of course that was to be expected with every civilian cleared out only a half-dozen Sprites in the entire sector.

      "Let's make sure we all know the plan." Dot said, wanting to hear it again, just to confirm that it wasn't _the_ craziest plan they had ever come up with.

      "As soon as Terabyte gets here Phong will disengage the Sector and have it move out to C." Bob said. "That should at least prevent civilian casualties if...when things turn sour. Turbo and I will distract her by pretending to start making the trade. Then Matrix takes out whoever's holding Enzo... And by 'take out' I mean incapacitate." He fixed his brother-in-law with a firm look. "Remember, being infected is *not* punishable by deletion."

      "Fine by me as long as everything works out." Matrix said. "But if I gotta make a choice between him and Enzo you know who I'll choose."

      Bob half-nodded at that. "Once Enzo is safe, we'll try to incapacitate Terabyte and portal her into the quarantine unit."

      "I'm still a little shaky on the part where you two almost give her your keytools." AndrAIa said. "The way I understand it, if she gets hold of them for even a nano it's 'Game Over, User Wins', right?"

      "That's why this mission has zero margin for error." Turbo said. "We need to get Enzo free the second Bob and I start to make the trade, before she has a chance to realize we're holding back."

      Dot sighed. It wasn't _the_ craziest plan ever, but it sure was near the top. She didn't get a chance to comment on this however, as Terabyte stepped out of Kits Sector and strode purposefully across the park. Just behind her, a large male Sprite with infected blue-and-green eyes dragged Enzo by the collar.

      They met in the center of the park. Dot noted thankfully that Terabyte's full attention was on Bob and Turbo. If they were lucky, she wouldn't notice when the entire sector began moving.

      "Keytools. Now." Terabyte wasted no time on pleasantries.

      "Let Enzo go first." Bob said, letting Matrix move surreptitiously into position.

      "We both know I'm not stupid." Terabyte replied. "One of us needs to stop acting like I am."

      "If we give you the Keytools, what guarantee do we have that you won't hurt Enzo."

      "None really." Terabyte said with a shrug. "But that's just life."

      The next few nanos passed almost too quickly for Dot to follow. A shot rang out to her left. Behind Terabyte, the infected Sprite fell over, clutching a bleeding wound in his leg and crying out in pain. As soon as he let go, Enzo darted past Terabyte and ran to Matrix. Terabyte growled in frustration and leapt at Bob.

      "Glitch, hold!" Bob yelled, sending out a beam of golden energy that held Terabyte in midair. Dot dimly heard Turbo do the same. So far everything was going well. Then everything went wrong.

      The Seed around Terabyte's neck began to glow, the bands of color that flowed across its surface speeding up until the entire jewel seemed to be woven from gold. Before Bob or Turbo could react, an invisible force reached out and grabbed their Keytools. The beams holding Terabyte disengaged immediately and she fell to the ground. The jewel pulled away from her neck, snapping the chain that held it, and floated high into the air. Glitch and Copeland followed it, orbiting around the glowing Seed. Navi and Surge detached themselves from her belt and joined their fellow keytools in their orbit. As soon as all four had reached the same height as the Jewel, a bright light shot out of each keytool's lens. The light was so intense, even Terabyte had to shield her eyes from the brilliant glare. The Keytools were spinning faster now, moving so fast their shapes blurred. 

      Suddenly, everything stopped. For a moment time seemed to stand still. Then, without warning, everyone except Terabyte was thrown backwards picked up by invisible hands and tossed in all directions. Dot looked up in time to see a huge burst of energy explode from the Fractal Seed, engulfing Terabyte and stopping just short of where they had all come to rest.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Bob! Dot!" Phong called into the vidwindow. "What is happening?"

      The screen was empty; clear blue sky filled the window.

      "Someone respond!" Phong cried desperately.

      A few nanos later, the vidwindow tilted down, revealing Bob, looking utterly defeated. Behind him, the others were struggling to their feet, including - Phong noted with a rush of relief - Enzo. But further back, a dome of angry red energy filled most of the screen.

      "What happened?" He asked, afraid that he already knew the answer.

      "We...couldn't stop her." Bob said. "We had Terabyte contained but...Exabyte grabbed the Keytools without her help. Pretty soon...she'll be free."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Target Locked."

      "Fire." Dot said.

      The Binome manning the big gun nodded and pressed the trigger. A bolt of energy shot out of the huge barrel, streaked across the huge gap between the separated sectors, and impacted harmlessly on the giant orb of energy in Floating Point, diffusing its energy across the dome's massive surface.

      "That's seventeen shots." Specky said. "All with no effect. Should we load number eighteen?"

      "No." Dot sighed. "I think we can safely say that would be a waste of ammo."

      "That's it then." Bob said. "We can't stop the decompression from out her and none of our weapons can punch through that energy shield. If Phong's reading the rate of decompression right, we have about another second to process."

      "Wait a nano." Mouse snapped. "Don't tell me we've come this far just ta' give up now. There's gotta be somethin' else we can do."

      "You already said you can't hack through the barrier, Ray's portals won't go inside the barrier, and none of our weapons are strong enough to scratch it. Probably the only thing that has a chance of getting through that shield is Terabyte, and she wouldn't help us even if she was on this side."

      "Funny how there's never a Super-Virus around when you actually need one." Matrix muttered.

      Turbo looked up abruptly at Matrix's comment. 

      "Uh...Bob." He said reluctantly.

      "Sir?"

      "A...very bad idea just occurred to me."

*   *   *   *   *  
TBC

*   *   *   *   *


	7. Strange Bedfellows

Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, you obviously haven't been paying close enough attention.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 111- Strange Bedfellows

*   *   *   *   *

The Supercomputer

Guardian Headquarters

Viral Containment Sector

*   *   *   *   *

      "We found her in a write-protected chamber just after the infection cleared." Turbo said, leading Bob down into the Viral Quarantine area. "Apparently she had a program in place to generate an exact replica if and when she was ever deleted."

      "How much does she remember?"

      "Hard to say." Turbo replied. "Her history files are intact right up to the nano she deleted in Mainframe, but... She's not exactly...all together."

      "What do you mean?"

      "Well for one thing, having her code scattered all over the Net didn't do wonders for her psyche." Turbo said. "And then once we found her we spent minutes trying to break her down. Even the Level X deletion chamber had no effect. So eventually we just stuck her in a quarantine cell."

      "And she's still down there?" Bob gasped.

      "Well...no one's...actually checked lately." Turbo said. "But I can't imagine she went anywhere."

      Bob shook his head silently. More than an hour, all alone in a dark, cramped quarantine cell seemed unbelievably cruel treatment, even considering who they were locking up.

      The Guardian at the checkpoint saluted sharply.

      "Sir! How may I be of assistance Sir?" He asked.

      "You can give me the key to one of the Quarantine Cells." Turbo said.

      "Yes Sir! Which cell, Sir?"

      "29A." Turbo replied.

      The young Guardian's face paled a bit from shock and fear. "29A, Sir?" 

      "You got a hearing problem, mister?"

      "No Sir!"

      "The key please."

      "Yes Sir!" The guard handed Turbo the key to the cell.

      "Cell 29A, huh?" Bob asked. "We don't think too much of our guest do we?"

      Turbo frowned. "You weren't infected for very long, Bob." He said. "You don't know what it was like. Deleting innocent people, infecting systems, and loving every nano of it because it made her happy." He shook his head and actually seemed to shudder. "She's a monster, Bob. If she really is our only hope...then we're just lucky we never found a way to delete her. Because any one of us would have jumped at the chance."

      "Yeah." Bob said. "Well, let's just hope she's still sane after sitting in the dark for two hours."

      "What makes you think she was sane to begin with?"

*   *   *   *   *

      The cell was dark; a few meager beams of light from the doorway the only illumination. A delicate female voice that Bob remembered far too well could be heard whispering in the darkness.

      "Visitors? For me? Do come in, I've been so lonely down here."

      Bob threw a sideways glance at Turbo, who nodded and swung the heavy metal door open. Bob took a tentative step into the cell. He couldn't see a thing. 

      "Glitch; lantern." Bob said out of habit, remembering a nano later that Glitch wasn't with him, and could very well have already been destroyed in Exabyte's decompression for all he knew. No; if Glitch had been destroyed he would know. But that didn't change the fact that he was facing a Super-Virus without even a Keytool to defend himself.

      In the light that spilled in from the open doorway, Daemon looked exactly as she had at the time of her deletion, what seemed like days ago. Her pale green hair flowed weightlessly about her shoulders, despite the still air of the cell. She still wore her crown, another artistic representation of a clock that encircled her head. Her armored clothes seemed a bit rusted from the damp quarantine cell, but the rest of her looked brand new.

      Blinking rapidly, Daemon looked up at Bob.

      "You are a Guardian." She said, somewhere between a question and a statement.

      "That's right."

      Daemon smiled. "I've always liked Guardians." She said, almost to herself. "They all liked me too...at first."

      "Daemon..."

      "How do you know my name?"

      "This...isn't the first time we've met." Bob said. "I was there in Mainframe, remember?"

      "Mainframe..." Suddenly, Daemon gasped in surprise. "I know you." She said. "My Messenger. But what has happened to you? You are no longer one with your keytool."

      "A lot of things have changed since then, Daemon." Bob said gently.

      "Yes. I suppose so." The Virus said. "I do not know what has happened. I completed my function, yet here I am. It is...depressing. I suppose I must complete it again. But look at my hourglass; it is empty. How will I know when my time is up?" She gestured to her ever-present hourglass necklace. Just as she had said, there was not a grain of sand in the glass.

      At least Daemon was somewhat lucid. She seemed a little confused, but her thought processes didn't seem to have been corrupted too badly by her long imprisonment. Given time, she would probably return completely to her old self, though whether that was a good thing or not was still open for debate.

      "Daemon..." She turned her attention back to Bob. "How would you like to get out of here?"

      "You will release me?" She perked up immediately, regaining some of the childlike innocence and enthusiasm that had made her so disturbing a Viral conqueror.

      "Not exactly." Bob said. "We need your help. We're going to take you to Mainframe. Now...if you help us, and if you behave yourself, you can spend the rest of your runtime in Mainframe instead of here."

      Turbo uttered a sound of protest behind him, but he hid it behind a false cough an instant later.

      "Do we have a deal, Daemon?" Bob asked.

      "Oh yes, Bob." Daemon said. "We have a deal."

*   *   *   *   *

      Terabyte laughed quietly, watching the CPUs dismantle their big guns and withdraw their forces. They hadn't had a chance at penetrating the power shield, of course. But watching them try had been an amusing diversion while she waited for the decompression cycle to finish. She looked up to where the Great One was decompressing high above her. There was still no visible form, just a steadily expanding pulse of energy.

      -Terabyte...-

      Terabyte snapped to attention at the sound of the Great One's voice, much louder now that her prison was beginning to break.

      "I'm here, Mistress."

      -Go to the Supercomputer.-

      "The Supercomputer?" Terabyte asked. "Why?"

      -The Guardians have gone there. They will summon our great enemy.-

      "Our enemy?"

      -The Destroyer. She awakens even as we speak.-

      Terabyte reached out and used some of the shields massive energy to form a portal into the Web, even as Exabyte showed her the quickest way to the Supercomputer.

      -Go. Stop them before they can bring the Destroyer here.-

      Nodding silently, Terabyte stood up and stepped into the portal.

*   *   *   *   *

      "How fast can we evacuate the System?" Dot asked.

      "Assuming there are no problems, we can have the entire population relocated in thirteen milliseconds."

      "Relocate to where?" Welman wondered. "To hear Bob and Turbo talk about this Exabyte, they won't be any safer in another system than in Mainframe."

      "But they've got a plan, right?" Enzo said. "I mean, they barely said a word before they ran off to the Supercomputer, they must be getting something *really* good, right?"

*   *   *   *   *

      "Have you gone completely random?" Turbo yelled.

      Daemon was cleaning up in the adjacent shower room, under the guard of twenty heavily armed Guardians. As soon as she was out of earshot, Turbo had turned on Bob.

      "Sir I..."

      "You don't have the authority to make a deal like that, Bob!" Turbo roared. "What in dell were you thinking?"

      "I thought it was the only way to get her to agree." Bob said. "What other option did we have? Tell her to come out and risk her life helping us so we can lock her back up again when it's all over? Somehow I didn't see that going over too well."

      "Have you forgotten what she is? What she tried to do?"

      "Of course not." Bob said. "It's because of what she is that she's the only one who can help us. And as for what she did..."

      "I hope you're not about to tell me that everyone deserves a second chance." Turbo cut him off.

      "You're the one who suggested we use her, sir." Bob said. "I never would have known she was down here at all."

      "I suggested that she might be strong enough to get through that energy shield." Turbo replied. "We're getting her out for that reason and that reason only. I *do not* want you turning this into another viral rehab experiment. Understood?"

      "Fighting over me already?" Daemon asked, emerging from the showers, cleaner and wearing with her clothes now looking brand new. "Do not let me interrupt."

      "No..." Turbo said quickly. "Just Guardian business. We'll finish this later." He added quietly to Bob.

      "Looking forward to it." Bob muttered.

      Suddenly, sirens rang out through the building.

      "Battle stations!" A panicked voice called over the loudspeakers. "We're under attack!"

*   *   *   *   *

      The Supercomputer's CPUs were all over Terabyte practically before she even set foot in the system. It started small, three Binomes with guns yelling at her to freeze. Terabyte grinned and swept the little fellows aside with a wave of her hand, sending them crashing through a nearby shop window.

      As she got closer to the Guardian Headquarters, the resistance became noticeably stronger. She raised her armor as gunfire assaulted her. The shooters were hidden in reinforced structures placed strategically around the Guardian base. Well, that could be taken care of easily enough. She had learned some great tricks in the Web; one in particular would come in very useful right now.

      Terabyte felt her hands heat up as energy began to gather in her palms. Raising her hands, she fired the energy at the bunkers, collapsing them both in a cloud of smoke and debris. The path into the base was clear.

      At that moment, everything blew up. Or at least it seemed that way. Long-range mortars exploded all around her, CPUs strafed her with machine gun fire from the air, and several Guardians tried to capture her in Anti-Viral cocoons. Terabyte fought back as well as she could, bringing down several CPUs with energy bolts, but even she couldn't fight an army single-handed. 

      Then, as suddenly as it began, the attack ceased. Looking up, Terabyte saw three figures standing in the huge doorway. Two were the Guardians she had seen in Mainframe. The third was a woman; short, pale skinned, and undoubtedly a Virus. This had to be the Destroyer the Great One had spoken of.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Terabyte!" Bob gasped.

      "How did she know...?" Turbo wondered aloud.

      "Who is that?" Daemon asked. "There is something odd about her."

      "My name is Terabyte." Terabyte answered Daemon. "And I was sent here to destroy you."

      A strange sound rang out next to Bob. It was a sound so out of place in the current situation that for a moment Bob didn't recognize it; laughter. Daemon was laughing.

      "What's so funny?" Terabyte demanded.

      "You, little one." Daemon replied, earning a look of fury from Terabyte. "You and whoever sent you. Do you not know who I am?"

      "The Great One called you the Destroyer. Personally I don't give a null's ascii who you are, I'm just here to delete you."

      "Silly girl." Daemon said. "You cannot delete me."

      "Uh...Daemon." Bob said. "It might not be a good idea to taunt that one."

      "You doubt my abilities, Bob?" Daemon asked, looking hurt.

      "It's not that." Bob said. "It's just that...she's the real deal."

      "Well I am out of practice." Daemon said. "Still, we will not know until we try." She turned to Terabyte. "Very well, I will..." She nearly took a CPU cruiser in the face before she could finish accepting the challenge. Terabyte had used Bob's distraction to pull the car out of the sky and hurl it toward Daemon. Daemon caught the car with one hand at the last second.

      "Get out of the vehicle." She said to the terrified driver, who nodded and leapt out onto the pavement. "You do not play fair." She said, tossing the car back at Terabyte. The half-virus ducked, but when she came up, Daemon was already in front of her, moving so fast that all the stunned Sprites saw was a blur.

      With a punch that cracked the pavement beneath them, Daemon sent Terabyte flying into the building behind them, which crumbled from the force of the impact. 

      "Fortunately, neither do I."

      Terabyte exploded from the wrecked building, her armor completely extended and rage glowing in her eyes. She attacked Daemon with a blinding series of punches, kicks, claw swipes, and energy blasts, but the Super-Virus countered them all, floating high into the air. Terabyte followed, levitating as quickly as she could to follow Daemon. Just when she seemed to be catching up, Daemon lashed out with a fierce kick that sent Terabyte plummeting to the ground and crashing through an elevated road.

*   *   *   *   *

      The kick had been bad enough. Smashing through the highway had been worse. And having the highway collapse on top of her for a micron in both directions only added insult to injury. Screaming in pain and fury, Terabyte clawed her way out from under the rubble, painfully aware of the dents in her armor and the energy leaking through the cracks. Daemon floated down calmly to stand before her. The Destroyer didn't have so much as a scratch on her.

      "I would love to keep this up." Daemon said. "But I do have other places to be."

      "This...isn't over." Terabyte gasped, using her power to open a Web Portal. "I'll be...seeing you again. Real soon!" She stepped into the Portal and disappeared.

      "I cannot wait." Daemon said.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Nice work." Bob said. "Although I doubt we've seen the last of Terabyte."

      "Nice work?" Turbo yelled. "Look at this place! This has gotta be twenty-thousand units worth of property damage, not to mention the seventy civilians who were injured. Its amazing there were no fatalities!"

      "Forgive me." Daemon said. "I was more concerned with defeating the enemy than worrying about breaking your pretty buildings."

      "What a surprise." Turbo muttered under his breath.

      "On the other hand, Sir, she did cut the projected casualties in half." Bob said. He turned to Daemon. "Just try to be more careful in the future."

      "Bob!" Dot's face popped up in front of them in a vidwindow. "Hurry it's..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Daemon. Her face went pale. "What the...?"

      "No time to explain, Dot." Bob said. "What's happening?"

      "It's the shield!" Dot said. "It's breaking! I think she's about to wake up!"

*   *   *   *   *

TBC 


	8. Rebirth and Death

Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, you obviously haven't been paying close enough attention.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1000- Rebirth and Death

*   *   *   *   *

      Matrix stood just far enough from the energy shield not to feel too much of its heat. Scanning the surface with his artificial eye, he sighed in frustration. Cracks were emerging all over the surface of the shield, expanding with frightening speed. Soon they would be big enough for everyone to see. Just behind the cracks, in the center of the shield, a shape was forming.

      He jumped when a hand fell lightly on his shoulder. He spun around, his hand going for Gun. 

      "At ease, soldier. It's just me." AndrAIa smiled nervously, trying to lighten the mood.

      "Sorry." Matrix said quickly. "Can't be too careful."

      "Well the lady who almost had Gun pointed at her begs to differ."

      "Sorry." Matrix said again, feeling sheepish. "You just caught me at a bad moment." He gestured behind him.

      "It's hatching?"

      He nodded.

      "How fast?" AndrAIa asked.

      Matrix shook his head. "They're not going to make it back in time."

*   *   *   *   *

      "I do not think you have been telling me everything." Daemon said, surveying the wreckage where the girl, Terabyte, had vanished.

      "We haven't really got time to spell it out for you." Turbo replied.

      "I suggest you take the time." Daemon said. "We have not even reached Mainframe and people are attacking us. What is there that they do not want us to reach?"

      "Can't you just do what we tell you?" Turbo asked.

      "I am not one of your little Guardians!" She snapped getting in Turbo's face. Despite their height difference and the fact that she had to stand on her toes to look him in the eyes, Turbo was hard-pressed not to back down under that stare. "I am the Word! I take orders from no-one!"

      "Please Daemon." Bob stepped between them, anxious to avert a fight he knew Turbo would lose. "If we took the time to explain what has to be done, we would get there too late to do it."

      For a moment it seemed that Daemon would argue the point. Finally she nodded.

      "Very well, Bob. But I expect an explanation soon."

      Bob nodded thankfully; at least one crisis had been averted. Turbo signaled to a young Guardian who saluted and used her Keytool to open a Portal. Daemon took a step toward the shimmering sphere, but Bob caught her arm.

      "Maybe I had better go first." He said. "If you show up out of nowhere...uh...I mean...some people might get the wrong idea."

      Daemon nodded and stepped back.

      "After you, Bob."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Matrix!" Matrix turned to see his sister running toward him, calling his name and waving. Clash was right behind her, followed closely by Mouse and Ray. "Matrix!"

      Dot was out of breath by the time she reached him.

      "What is it Dot?" AndrAIa asked.

      "Matrix..." Dot said, gasping for air. "Need you...go...inside..."

      "What for?" Matrix asked.

      "Just...trust me...okay?"

      Before Matrix could respond, a Portal opened up next to them. A moment later, Bob stepped out. He seemed surprised and a little upset to see Matrix.

      "Dot..." He began.

      "I tried!" Dot said.

      "What is wrong with you two?" Matrix asked. Then he noticed the Portal rippling behind Bob. Someone else was coming through. Gun practically leapt into his hand when he saw who it was. By the time the figure stepped out of the Portal, Matrix was in the perfect position to blow her head off.

      Daemon regarded him with a blank expression, staring calmly down the huge barrel.

      "Oh. Hello Matrix."

      "What the dell's going on here?" Matrix demanded.

      "Calm down!" Bob said, trying to push Matrix's arm away from Daemon. "She's here to help!"

      "Help?" AndrAIa asked. Matrix seemed to infuriated to speak.

      "She's on our side, trust me." Bob insisted.

      "How is she even alive?"

      "It's a long story..." Bob began.

      "Which we do not seem to have time for." Daemon said, brushing past Matrix and staring at the energy shield. "If that is what I think it is."

      "It is." Bob said.

      "Then I fear you have freed me for nothing." Daemon replied. "Even my power may not be enough to destroy her once she is decompressed."

      "So what are you waiting for?" Matrix finally seemed to have found his voice. "Kill her before she decompresses!"

      Daemon shook her head. "It is too late."

      As if on cue, the angry red dome shattered, sending what looked like shards of glass flying in every direction. The shards evaporated into nothingness before they had even landed, leaving only a cloud of smoke where the shield had been. In the center of the cloud stood Exabyte.

*   *   *   *   *

      Bob's first impression was of a tall, thin woman. Even Matrix was at least a head shorter than Exabyte. As the smoke cleared, he was able to see her more clearly. Her features were perfect, so much so that she barely seemed real. Her pale aqua skin was completely smooth, not in the sense of well moisturized, but in the sense of polished glass or metal, too smooth to be alive. The same went for her hair, dark purple and flowing down to below her knees without a single strand out of place. Her face would have been beautiful, but for her eyes. They were pure black with only the slightest slivers of white, like a snakes eyes, to indicate pupils. She wore a long, flowing black dress that hid her legs completely, but left her arms and shoulders bare. On her chest, right below where the collarbones met, a symbol seemed to have been etched in glowing gold. It looked like an '8' turned on its side, the symbol of infinity. Exabyte stretched her arms over her head, as if waking up from a pleasant slumber, and regarded the Sprites and Virus before her with the casual contempt of a child getting ready to squash insects.

      "Well Bob." Turbo said. "You always wanted to study the User. Here's your chance."

      Not exactly wanting to step forward, Bob called out to the woman.

      "Are you...Exabyte?"

      "I answer to that filename." A cold, soft, deadly quite voice issued from her mouth, echoing slightly, though there was no logical reason why it should have. She seemed at once to be whispering and yelling, for her words rang across the park, though she barely moved her lips.

      "What do you want?" Bob asked.

      "Since when do mortals question the motives of gods?" Exabyte's voice now held a dangerous edge. Bob had to tread carefully.

      "Then you are...you are a User?"

      "No."

      "Then you're a Virus?"

      "I am not." Exabyte said, almost playfully.

      "But we thought..." Bob began.

      "You thought, that you're pitiful intellect could comprehend me." Exabyte snapped. "Obviously, you were mistaken. I am not Virus, nor Sprite, nor User. I have transcended such petty classifications. I am Everything!"

      "Why have you come here?"

      "Do you really want to know?" Exabyte actually smiled. The effect of a smile on that cold face chilled Bob to the very core.

      "I want to know if there's any way we can live in peace." He said.

      "You really want to know?" Before Bob quite knew what was happening, she was right next to him whispering in his ear. "You want to know what I desire? What I came her to do?"

      "Yes." Bob said.

      "Very well. I have come here...to kill!" Before he could react, her hand reached up and plunged into his chest, not ripping through, but sinking in as if he were made of liquid. White-hot pain filled him instantly. He would have screamed, but his mouth would not open, his lungs would not draw in breath. He felt his energy slipping away, not being stolen, simply vanishing. Dimly, he heard Matrix firing gun, but the bullets never even reached Exabyte, burning up a few pixels away from her face. Everyone seemed to be trying to help, but it was too late. He was going to die.

      And as suddenly as it had begun, the agony ended. A huge weight crashed into him and threw him out of Exabyte's grip. Bob sank to the ground, fading in and out of transparency, barely conscious. He looked up and saw Clash standing where he had just been, turning to face the User.

      Exabyte wore a look of undisguised rage. It contorted her face into a monstrous death mask. Without a word, she raised her fist and sank it into Clash. Bob, the only one close enough, was barely strong enough to raise his head; he could not intervene. As the assembly watched, helpless, energy danced around Clash's petrified form, as if he had been struck by lightning. In nanoseconds, it was over. An explosion shook the ground and a shower of sparks flew into the air. When they had faded, Clash was gone.

      Exabyte turned, looming over Bob. He tried to back away, but his body simply would not respond.

      "Your little friend bought you a few more nanoseconds of life." She said. "I hope you enjoyed them."

      She seemed about to deliver the killing blow when a small figure in a dark brown robe stepped between them.

      "Get away from him!" A high, female voice demanded. An instant later, a blast of golden light erupted from the robed figure, throwing Exabyte almost to the edge of the sector.

      The User got to her feet and sneered at them all.

      "Very well." She said. "I depart, for now. But when I return, you will all wish you had never been compiled!"

      With a flash of fiery orange light, she vanished, leaving no evidence that she had ever been there at all, except for one Sprite at death's door, and an empty, slightly charred patch of ground where another had vanished forever.

*   *   *   *   *

TBC 


	9. Betrayal

Disclaimer: Nothing new here. I don't own ReBoot and I never will. That's all there is to it.

*   *   *   *   *

Queen of the Crashed 

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1001- Betrayal

*   *   *   *   *

      As soon as Exabyte vanished, Dot ran to where Bob lay. Nearly all of his energy had been burned away and he seemed more dead than alive, lacking even the strength to raise his head.

      "Bob!" She held his head in her lap, forcing him to look at her. "Stay with me Bob! Come on!" Even as she spoke, the effort seemed useless. Her husband, the Sprite she loved more than life itself, the man with more life in him than anyone she had ever knows, was deleting before her eyes. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

      "Let me."

      Looking up, Dot saw the mysterious figure in brown robes standing over them. A hand reached up and pushed back the hood of the robe, revealing the pretty face of a teenaged girl with dark blue skin and gold hair.

      "Who are you?" Dot asked.

      The girl ignored the question. "I can help." She said, stretching out a hand over Bob's chest. Before Dot could agree or disagree, the girl sent a stream of the same gold light that had forced Exabyte to retreat into Bob. Dot would have protested, but the instant the blast struck Bob he began to look better. His bitmap quickly returned to its regular opacity. After only a few nanoseconds of contact, his eyes fluttered open and he sat up slowly. The girl broke off her energy beam and smiled at him.

      "You'll be fine now." She said happily.

      "Thanks." Bob said, standing up with Dot's help. "But...who are you?"

      "You don't recognize me?" The girl looked hurt. "I know I look a little different now, but come on! I would think you'd know your best friend when you saw her!"

      Bob squinted, seeing the girl as if for the first time. "...Glitch?"

      "See, that wasn't so hard." Glitch smiled and helped Bob to his feet.

      "But...how?"

      "Beats me." She shrugged. "Last thing I remember is getting pulled out of your hand, then I woke up here."

      "Are you sure you're all right, Bob?" Dot asked.

      "He'll be fine now." Glitch assured her. "We have the same code, after all. Healing him is a snap."

      "What about Clash?" Bob asked, looking around for the big robot. "Did you...I mean..."

      Glitch shook her head sadly. "There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry."

      Bob stared at the blackened ground where Clash had been, where Hack and Slash had given their lives to save his. And then his friends were on all sides, assuring themselves that he was safe. He could hear Dot sobbing quietly next to him. AndrAIa held Dot tightly, a few tears escaping her eyes as well. Matrix took out his aggression on a large rock, screaming as he kicked it far out to C. Mouse and Ray stood nearby with Turbo, their heads bowed in respect for their fallen comrade. Even Daemon seemed subdued, her icy exterior cracked ever so slightly. All of this registered in Bob's mind, but only peripherally. He couldn't tear his eyes away from that one charred patch of earth. Sadness gnawed at his heart, a sadness that wasted no time turning to despair. He had faced evil before, and every time he and his friends had emerged victorious. But not this time. 

      He had failed again. Two innocent, heroic lives had been extinguished in a heartbeat. And now the most destructive creature in the history of the Net was loose, soon to return and finish them all off. This went beyond very bad. As far as Bob could see, this situation could only have one conclusion. The End of the Net had begun.

*   *   *   *   *

      The war room was nearly silent, every Sprite and Binome present hanging on the words of those who spoke. The only other sound came from Enzo. Hack and Slash had been the closest thing the boy had had to friends, even after returning to their original, singular form. Upon news of their deaths he had broken down sobbing, but hastily reigned it in. Clearly some idiot had put it in his head that crying was not manly. Matrix just hoped that he wasn't that idiot.

      _Go ahead and cry kid. That's what you're_ supposed _to do when it hurts._

      "Do we have any clue where Exabyte went?" Matrix turned his attention back to the issue at hand. Enzo would handle adversity as well as he always did, which was considerably better than Matrix had in similar circumstances.

      "None." Phong said. "It is as if she simply vanished into thin air."

      "Well that portal, if you could call it that, led to the web." The girl who claimed to be Glitch spoke up. "I could still sense that much."

      "Which brings us to the sixty-four thousand unit question." Bob said. "What happened to you four?" 

      As near as anyone could tell, the four Keytools had become Sprites. While Glitch put herself in the central area of the war room, the other three stood near the back wall, observing the situation. Copeland had become a tall, middle-aged man with long white hair and pale orange skin, his brown robes gave him the look of a hermit or holy man. The other two seemed more like Glitch, though older. Surge wore his bright red hair in wild spikes, contrasting with his pale aqua skin. He looked like a punk rocker. Navi has a similar look about her, with long dreadlocks pulled out of her face into a ponytail. She would have seemed more conservative than Surge, but the piercings in her nose and eyebrow gave her away. Glitch seemed to be the youngest of the group, and something of a rebel, given how the others reacted to her outspoken attitude and eagerness to put herself amongst the Sprites.

      "We'll need to run some tests." Welman said, examining Glitch with a medical scanner. "But it would appear that their contact with Exabyte's decompression program triggered a similar effect in them."

      "So they've been decompressed?" AndrAIa asked.

      Welman shook his head; or rather, the robot remained still while the Null within wagged its front half side to side. "It's not quite that simple. After all, they were never compressed to begin with. Their source code seems to have been altered somehow, they appear to have absorbed part of Exabyte's code, though again I can't be sure without more extensive tests."

      "So run them." Matrix said.

      "No." Copeland spoke up. "You're not running tests on any of us. We're leaving."

      "But..." Turbo began.

      Copeland held up a hand, silencing him. "I am sorry, my friend." He said. "This is where our paths diverge."

      "But we need your help." Bob protested. "Exabyte is out there. She..."

      "We can't give you the kind of help you need." Surge said.

      "We have seen the power of the Unnamable One firsthand." Navi said, favoring them with a look of sympathy. "This is a battle that cannot be won."

      "So instead you are going to run away." Daemon had been silent up to this point, content to analyze the situation from outside of the conversation, now she turned a cold look on the Keytools. "You're going to run and hide from her, just like you ran and hid from me. You are cowards."

      "No." Bob said. "It's not cowardly to escape a losing battle." He turned to Copeland. "I hope you can find someplace safe. I really do."

      The other man nodded and pointed to an empty corner of the room, opening a portal there. He stood next to the shimmering vortex, joined by Surge and Navi.

      "You first Glitch." Copeland gestured to the portal.

      "No."

      "What?"

      Glitch looked up at her elders. "I'm not going." She said firmly.

      "Don't be basic, Glitch." Navi suddenly sounded like an ordinary girl trying to reason with a stubborn little sister. "We need to find a way to cure...this." She gestured to their Sprite-like bitmaps.

      "Why?" Glitch shrugged. "I kinda like it."

      "We have a responsibility to our people, Glitch." Copeland said. "Or have you forgotten?"

      "We also have a responsibility to assist the Guardians." Glitch snapped back. "Or have you forgotten?"

      "I'm not going to ask again."

      "Well that'll make this go a lot faster." Glitch replied. "I made a promise, just like you. I swore to keep Exabyte imprisoned *for all time* not just until she got loose. Go wherever you want. I intend to stay right here until we figure out how to put her back or destroy her for good."

      Shaking his head in exasperation, Copeland stepped into the portal, followed closely by Surge. Navi hung back, her eyes pleading with Glitch, but the younger woman stood firm. Finally Navi nodded resignedly.

      "Take care of yourself." She said. Then she stepped into the portal and vanished. 

*   *   *   *   *

      Terabyte could feel the harsh data of the Web pulling at her, trying to find a crack in her armor. A normal Sprite would have degraded to nothing without protection. Even with her armor, Terabyte felt uncomfortably hot as the Web tried to burn her. So she was understandably surprised to see a Sprite floating unprotected right in front of her, seemingly immune to the data that churned around her.

      "Welcome, my child." The woman said, opening her arms and reaching out to Terabyte.

      The half-virus hung back warily. Her battle with the Destroyer was still fresh in her mind and she had no desire to get mixed up with another unknown virus.

      "Who are you?" She demanded.

      "Do you not recognize me?" The woman replied, her soft voice echoing despite the emptiness around them. "How can that be, when you have suffered so much to set me free?"

      Suddenly, recognition dawned on Terabyte's face. She rushed forward, ready to claim her reward from the Great One. But even as she approached, Exabyte's expression changed. Her serene smile transformed into a look of confusion which quickly gave way to disgust.

      "What is the meaning of this?" She demanded.

      "What do you mean?" Terabyte asked, confused.

      Exabyte leaned down to examine her more closely. "What are you?"

      "I...I don't understand..." Terabyte said.

      "You're no virus." Exabyte said.

      "I am." Terabyte insisted. "I am a virus."

      "Half at best." Exabyte sniffed. "You reek of Sprite."

      "I set you free. You told me to set you free."

      "Sadly my senses were somewhat limited in that form. If I had known what you were, I would have found a different servant rather than be indebted to a worthless half-breed."

      "No." Terabyte said, forcing her anger back down, willing it not to erupt again. "Not you, too. You can't do this to me again! You owe me! You promised!"

      "True." Exabyte mused. "I do owe you my freedom. And for that, I'll allow you to continue existing. Provided you remove yourself from my sight immediately."

      "But...you promised..." Terabyte said, holding back tears.

      "Wake up, girl. You served your purpose. Now have the decency to leave quietly. If I have to look at you for much longer, I may forget my obligation."

      "I'll kill you!" Terabyte screamed, charging.

      Exabyte barely blinked, deflecting Terabyte's hastily constructed energy beam, blocking her punches, and grasping her neck with one powerful hand.

      "If this is how you want it," she said calmly, tightening her grip, "I am more than happy to oblige."

      "Who goes there?" From the corner of her eye, Terabyte saw a group of Web Riders, a scouting party, approaching with weapons raised. Exabyte turned to assess the new threat, providing Terabyte with all the opening she needed. Raising a fist, she summoned all of her power and put it behind a single punch that would have shattered stone. As it was, her attack barely left a bruise on Exabyte's cheek, but it was enough. Terabyte felt the grip on her neck loosen. Wriggling free, she didn't wait for Exabyte to respond to the attack. In a nanosecond, she created a portal to the first system she could find and stepped inside. As she hastily closed the portal behind her, Terabyte saw the goddess striding forward to meet the Web Riders.

*   *   *   *   *

      "They're right you know." Glitch said after her fellow Keytools had departed. "We can't beat Exabyte."

      "You did a pretty good job." Bob said.

      Glitch shook her head. "She just woke up, she's still not at full power. That's why she left."

      "Of course!" Phong said. "She retreated into the Web to gather her strength."

      Glitch nodded. "And if I remember Exabyte at all, that won't take her very long."

      "Explain that to us again." Matrix said. "You were around when Exabyte was imprisoned?"

      "Of course." She said. "The four of us provided the power for the command that compressed her. We also held the codes that locked her in. That's why she needed us to escape."

      "So how do we put her back?" Dot asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

      "I don't know."

      The uncomfortable silence settled over the room again. It was Mouse who finally spoke up.

      "Well Ah'd say we got some preparin' to do." She said.

      "Agreed." Turbo said. "Bob and I can go back to the supercomputer, convince the Collective to send every Guardian we can spare to Mainframe."

      "But that will leave us defenseless if Exabyte returns while you're gone." Welman pointed out.

      AndrAIa nodded. "And don't forget that Terabyte is still out there. What if she decides to come back?"

      "You will not be defenseless." Every eye turned to Daemon. "I will remain in case she returns. If Glitch will assist me, I believe we can repel either attacker."

      "Oh marvelous." Matrix said. "Let's trust our fate to her."

      "At this point Matrix, you have little choice in the matter." Daemon said.

      "She's here to help." Bob assured them once again. "I don't know why...but for some reason I trust her."

      "All right." Matrix said. "But I'm staying to keep an eye on her."

      "Don't worry." Turbo said. "We should be back by next second."

      "Let us hope there is still a Mainframe left for you to return to." Phong said quietly.

*   *   *   *   *

      "How are you feeling, my child." Phong asked.

      "Like I've had my ASCII kicked." Disa said, getting out of bed weakly and booting back into her uniform. "Oh that's right; I have."

      Disa's wounds had healed remarkably well. Her bruises had all but faded, though her arm remained in a sling and she would wear a scar above her left eyebrow for the rest of her runtime. Still, she had suffered no permanent damage and no file corruption. In time, she would recover fully. 

      "What have I missed?" She asked.

      "I am afraid things have taken a turn for the worse." Phong replied.

      "Enzo?"

      "He is fine. But..."

      "Terabyte?" Disa asked.

      "There is more at work here than Terabyte I am afraid." Phong said. Perhaps you should come with me. They had turned toward the door when a bright orange flash lit the room. Out of a small web portal stumbled a girl covered in dark blue armor. As the portal closed behind her, the girl's helmet disappeared, revealing green skin, dark hair, and an unmistakable metal crest. Terabyte stood still for a moment, then doubled over in pain, grabbing a nearby hospital bed for support.

      "Home...sweet...home..." She growled before passing out on the floor.

      Phong's eyes widened in alarm.

      "Oh dear..."

*   *   *   *   *

TBC  


	10. My Enemy's Enemy

Disclaimer: Same as always...  
  
* * * * * Queen of the Crashed By The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan) * * * * *  
  
* * * * * Chapter 1010 - My Enemy's Enemy * * * * *  
  
Terabyte awoke in a small, dimly lit quarantine cell with the worst hangover she had ever had. Except she hadn't been drinking, so it couldn't be a hangover. Ever since her encounter with Exabyte, the pain she had been feeling had become a more or less permanent affliction. Though whether this was a result of the User's treachery or something that had developed on its own, she could not be sure.  
  
"Feeling better?"  
  
Looking out into the hallway, Terabyte saw the Destroyer, the one the Guardians had called Daemon. The petite virus was leaning against the wall across from Terabyte's cell, glaring at her coldly. Standing next to Daemon was another girl, a teenager with dark blue skin and golden hair. She wore regular black pants with a white halter-top, nothing like Daemon's armor. Yet she seemed just as much a person not to be trifled with. And next to her was...  
  
"Mother..."  
  
Terabyte turned her head, unable to look her mother in the eye.  
  
"Why did you come back, Terabyte?" Dot asked.  
  
"So after all this time, you've finally managed to lock me up." Terabyte said, testing the bars of energy that held her in. "To the casual observer, it might seem like you didn't trust me."  
  
"You haven't been giving me many reasons to lately." Her mother replied quietly.  
  
"I suppose not."  
  
"Did Exabyte send you?" Daemon asked.  
  
"Did Exabyte send me?" Terabyte laughed out loud. But her laughter quickly turned into tears. "She sent me, all right. Sent me away." She sank to the floor of the cell trying in vain to hold in her sobs.  
  
"What happened?" Her mother asked. The voice she used almost made it sound like she genuinely cared.  
  
"She didn't want me." Try as she might, Terabyte couldn't keep the words from spilling out. "She said I was a worthless half-breed. She hates me! Everyone hates me! And why not? I am worthless! I'm cruel, and perverse, and disgusting! All I do is hurt people; why shouldn't they hate me? I hate myself! I wish I'd never been compiled!"  
  
"It's not too late." Her mother said, soothingly. "You may be part Virus, but you don't have viral programming. You can choose what to do with your life. There's still hope for you."  
  
"You're wrong." Terabyte whispered. "There's no hope for me."  
  
"How can you say that?"  
  
Terabyte looked up into her mother's eyes.  
  
"Because I think I'm dying."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The other three members of the Guardian command staff listened closely as Turbo outlined the events leading up to Exabyte's rebirth. They asked no questions, took no notes, and in all ways behaved as if Turbo was reading them the weather report, not spelling out what could be the doom of every Sprite, Binome, and Numeral in the Net. Bob had never been in the command chamber before, and he had never met the other members of the staff. Seeing them now, he wondered if they were always this detached. No wonder they had been able to so callously order Mainframe's destruction during the Web War. They didn't allow themselves to consider a situation as anything more than a problem to be overcome as expediently as possible.  
  
"So this 'half-virus'..." One of the commanders began.  
  
"Terabyte." Turbo said.  
  
"Terabyte. You made a deal with her to release the boy in exchange for the Keytools, and this...decompression was a direct result of the failure of that plan? Is that accurate?"  
  
"Not entirely." Turbo said. "We intended to capture Terabyte. We underestimated Exabyte's power."  
  
"So you failed to prevent a creature you should have destroyed from awakening the most powerful Virus ever. And now, less than a second after asking us to authorize releasing Daemon from quarantine, you want us to pull all our Guardians from their posts and send them to Mainframe?" Another staff member asked.  
  
"If not all, then as many as can be spared." Turbo nodded.  
  
"Please try to understand how random this all sounds, Turbo."  
  
Bob frowned. Being Prime Guardian did not give Turbo absolute authority over the collective. Any decision he made had to be approved by this council. The three members would vote. If the vote went in Turbo's favor, his request was approved. If not, a new course of action would be chosen.  
  
"We are ready to make our decision." The first staff member, representing the System Security branch of the Collective, stood up. "Pulling Guardians off their posts would weaken those systems should Exabyte or any other Virus show up there. With no definitive proof that Exabyte will return to Mainframe, this is not an acceptable risk. System Security votes '0'."  
  
The next member in line stood up, representing the Guardian Academy. "As the only Guardians who have had contact with Exabyte, the Prime Guardian and Guardian 452 are in the best position to judge what she might do next. And their reading of her suggests that she will return to Mainframe. Prudence demands that we pay heed to this warning or risk the future of the Collective. The Academy votes '1'."  
  
Bob held his breath hopefully as the last member stood. The vote was tied, one negative and one positive. The last branch of the Collective was Anti-Viral. Surely they would vote in favor of fighting the First Virus.  
  
The middle-aged Sprite in charge of the Anti-Viral branch sighed heavily. "This is not an easy decision to make. On the one hand, a defenseless system is like a beacon for Viruses. However, to defeat Exabyte, we will need as many Guardians as we can get to fight her when and where she attacks. But we do not know when that will be. She may or may not attack Mainframe, and even if we could say for certain where she will strike we cannot guess when." She shook her head. "I simply cannot agree to any course of action that relies on so many unknowns. The Anti-Viral branch votes '0'.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Well Phong?" Dot asked while Terabyte rolled her sleeve back down and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She felt a pang of sympathy for her estranged daughter. The girl still couldn't stand needles. "What does the test say?"  
  
Phong plugged the sample he had just taken of Terabyte's energy into the scanning unit. The screen immediately lit up with a reading.  
  
"Well...there is a high blood-I/O level, and various chemicals consistent with the use of firewires, painkillers, and...Dust."  
  
Dot glanced at Terabyte, who looked away, ashamed.  
  
"Why?" She asked.  
  
"I told you I'm disgusting." Terabyte replied quietly.  
  
"There may be an actual reason." Phong said, examining the readout more closely. "Have you been in pain, Terabyte?"  
  
"Yes." She nodded. "Ever since the Web."  
  
"It is as I feared." Phong said.  
  
"What? What did you fear?" Dot asked.  
  
"Uh...perhaps we should...step outside for a moment."  
  
"No." Terabyte said. "This is about me, you can say it in front of me." Her expression softened into one of pleading. "I need to know. ...Am I dying?"  
  
Phong hesitated a moment, then nodded gravely. "Yes, my child." He said. "You are dying."  
  
More tears sprang to Terabyte's eyes, though Dot had difficulty seeing them through the tears in hers. "How?" She asked.  
  
"When you described the process of transferring Megabyte's energy into Terabyte, I began to suspect something like this could have happened. Megabyte's energy accelerated her growth to full Viral maturity, then began to boost her power. The more she used her Viral powers, the greater they became. But her Sprite half cannot handle that amount of energy. It is beginning to overload."  
  
"Overload?" Terabyte asked in a small, scared voice. "What do you mean 'overload'?"  
  
"It is unpleasant, you may not want to hear..."  
  
"I don't." Terabyte said. "I don't want to hear. But I have to."  
  
Phong nodded, laying a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "When your Viral energy reaches a certain level, it will annihilate your Sprite code, without which your Viral code cannot survive."  
  
"So I'll just vanish." She fought to stay in control.  
  
The elderly Sprite seemed to be looking for the most delicate way to phrase his response. "Not exactly." He finally said. "When the energy reaction reaches critical mass, it will cause a...substantial detonation."  
  
"How substantial?" All her former bravado gone, terabyte now seemed very small and very scared.  
  
"Enough to completely erase an entire system." Phong said. "I am sorry, child."  
  
With nowhere else left to turn, Terabyte sought the only person she could think of for comfort. Dot caught her daughter as the young woman fell against her.  
  
"I'm sorry Mommy!" Terabyte sobbed. "I'm sorry for everything! I don't want to die!" No matter how old she seemed, Terabyte was still just a child. And right now she was scared and needed her mother.  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Dot asked. "If she stops using her powers...?"  
  
Phong shook his head sadly. "The process is too advanced. Her energy is now increasing on its own, whether she uses her powers or not. Stopping now will only delay the inevitable. If we...could have gotten to her sooner..."  
  
Terabyte stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes.  
  
"Well," she said, "at least there's one thing I can do to help now." She looked into her mother's eyes. "And I don't want you trying to stop me."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I can't believe it," Bob said. "How could they... I mean after everything that's happened."  
  
"They're only doing what they think is right," Turbo said. "In a way, I can see their point. We don't know that Exabyte will strike Mainframe first."  
  
"Trust me, she will," Bob said. "She'll want to finish the job. But she won't do that until she's strong enough to be sure of victory. We have a few seconds, I hope."  
  
"But without more Guardians we don't stand a chance against her. Even with Daemon on our side, assuming she really is, the smart money's on Exabyte," Turbo said.  
  
"We'll think of something," Bob said. "We always do."  
  
The communicator on Bob's wrist began beeping with an incoming call.  
  
"Go ahead," Bob said into the wristband, wondering how long it would take him to get used to not having Glitch.  
  
"You guys had better get back here fast," Matrix's voice came from the communicator. "We've got a bit of a situation."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This is crazy," Dot said.  
  
"Which part?" Matrix asked, "The Guardians not helping, having Daemon on our side," he pointed to the girl in the middle of the war room, "or trusting her?"  
  
Terabyte glared defiantly at the assembled Sprites, studiously ignoring the Virus guarding her. She might be their ally now, or at least no longer their enemy, but that didn't mean she had to like them.  
  
"Actually I was referring to this so called 'plan'."  
  
"It's the only way," Terabyte said.  
  
"No," Dot shook her head, "there has to be another way."  
  
"I'm dying," Terabyte said. "A when I go, I'll take this entire system with me, unless I'm not here. Since I'll be leaving anyway, I might as well do some good. I can get near Exabyte and maybe take her with me when it..."  
  
"No," Dot said adamantly. "I won't let you sacrifice yourself."  
  
"I'm already dead," Terabyte insisted. "At least I can take that bitch out with me."  
  
"If it works," Welman said, "And we have no way of knowing if it will."  
  
"It's the only chance you people have!" Terabyte growled. "I'm not asking for your approval, I was just letting you know my plan."  
  
"I don't know," Bob said. "Sounds to me like you want validation."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You think a suicide act now will make up for your past crimes," Daemon said. "And you want us all to appreciate the effort. How very selfish."  
  
"No," Terabyte said, "that's not it. That's not why..."  
  
"Then prove it," Dot said. "Stay. Help us fight Exabyte."  
  
"I can't," Terabyte said quietly, "I can't fight her."  
  
"Alone, no, you can not," Phong said. "Alone, not one of us is a match for her. But all of us together might be enough."  
  
"Please Terabyte," Dot said, "all I'm asking is that you try to do it our way. I'm not ready to give up on you yet."  
  
"What is the matter with you people?" Terabyte yelled. "After everything I've done, why are you still so faqing determined to make me one of you?"  
  
"She makes a good point," Daemon said.  
  
"It's not that," Matrix assured them both. "It's just that after everything you've done, you owe us a little, don't you think?"  
  
"You're still forgetting something. At some point I'm going to explode!"  
  
"Phong's monitoring your energy levels," Bob said. "We'll know long before...anything happens."  
  
"Fine," Terabyte relented. "You all want to put your ASCIIs on the line, who am I to stand in your way? What exactly do you want me to do?"  
  
"For now, we need you to work with Daemon. You're the only two who have really fought Exabyte, we need you to see if you can figure out any weakness."  
  
"You've gotta be spamming me!" the girl yelled, "I'm not working with her!"  
  
"Afraid of getting hurt again?" Daemon taunted.  
  
"Hardly. You got lucky last time."  
  
That comment got Daemon genuinely mad. "Really? Care to try your 'luck' again?" She said, taking a threatening step toward the younger virus.  
  
"Anytime. Anywhere." Terabyte replied, refusing to back down.  
  
"Knock it off. Both of you," Bob said. "Daemon, we have an agreement, remember?"  
  
"Of course I remember."  
  
"Well this is part of it. And Terabyte, if you really want to do some good like you claim, then you'll work with Daemon."  
  
"Fine," both viruses snapped in unison.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"This is all kinds of random, Bob," Matrix said, watching the main screen apprehensively. A map of mainframe showed to dots, one green, one blue, moving around Lost Angles. The first part of strategizing a plan to fight Exabyte was cataloging all of Terabyte's powers. To that end, Daemon and Glitch were running her through drills on the abandoned island. Every now and then, the entire city would shake as a particularly violent power was unleashed.  
  
"Bad enough we have to trust Daemon, but Terabyte too?" Matrix continued. "She's a loose cannon, in the 'maybe I'll just delete everyone' sense. How can we be sure she'll stick to our side?"  
  
"Not to mention she's still wanted for murder," Turbo added. "If the Collective found out."  
  
"The Collective has already chosen their part in this. They have their heads firmly planted in the sand," Bob said. "I hate it as much as you do Sir, but they're not even paying attention to us. Meanwhile, we're the ones who will have to fight Exabyte and I intend to have every possible asset available to us when that time comes."  
  
"So Terabyte is an asset now?" Matrix asked. "Don't let Dot hear you talking like that."  
  
"You know what I mean. We need her help. And as for her switching back, I don't think she will. She hates Exabyte too much. Besides, what's really keeping her here is Dot. Terabyte still loves her. As long as she thinks staying here and helping us will help Dot, that's what she'll do."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Late that night, when everyone else was asleep, Terabyte stood alone in the read only room.  
  
"Begin recording," she said quietly.  
  
"This message is for my mother. I know I said I would stay and fight with you. And I'm sorry that I have to let you down once again. I was never meant to be a freedom fighter. I can't mend and defend. I was programmed to destroy. So that's what I'm going to do. Once I'm in the Web I can track Exabyte's energy. When I die, so will she. Regardless of what you or anyone else think of my motives, I am doing this for you Mother. Maybe if I wait here we can fight Exabyte, maybe we can even win. But people will get hurt, people will get deleted. I don't care about that, except that one of those people might be you. It's better that Exabyte never gets a chance to come back here. Before I leave, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for I couldn't be more like you. I'm sorry for the people I've deleted. Most of all, I'm sorry I put you all in this situation. I'd like to think that given another chance I would do things differently, but I can't really believe that. I can't change the past, but I can clean up the mess I made. Maybe Daemon's right. Maybe I do want people to think well of me when I'm gone. If nothing else, I know I want you to remember me. Remember that I always loved you, the best parts of me come from you. Problem is, the rest could never live up to them. But if I can destroy Exabyte, then maybe that will mean a little of the good in me got through all that was rotten.  
  
"Pretty speech," Daemon's voice startled Terabyte. "A little long winded for my taste, but then I've always operated under time constraints."  
  
"Finish recording," Terabyte said, "Delete final 6.10 nanoseconds, then send to Command.Com."  
  
"Suicide note?" Daemon asked.  
  
"More like an explanation. I owe her that."  
  
"You owe her an explanation, but not your loyalty? And here I thought you loved her."  
  
"Can we get on with it?"  
  
Daemon didn't seem to be listening. "I myself am not programmed to love as you can, but I know it takes a great deal of love to defy someone so important to you when you know they are wrong."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Having you here is too dangerous. Your plan was the better one, selfish though it may be."  
  
"Was that a 'yay' vote? I thought you were here to stop me."  
  
"Not at all," Daemon said. "I actually stumbled upon you quite by accident. I do not sleep as much as Sprites and I find that wandering the corridors here is quite calming."  
  
"So you're not going to try to change my mind?"  
  
"What in out time together has indicated that I care enough for you to do that?"  
  
Terabyte smiled. "At least you've always been honest with me. In a way, I appreciate that."  
  
"You had better be heading out," Daemon said. Terabyte nodded and began opening a portal.  
  
"If you fail, I will destroy Exabyte," Daemon said. "Your mother will be safe."  
  
"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"  
  
"When you get past the whining, you have many of the qualities I seem to admire in my own kind. You are clever, resourceful, ruthless... In other circumstances, you could have made a splendid Virus."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"I speak only the truth."  
  
"You'll keep her safe?"  
  
"If it is within my power to do so."  
  
Terabyte nodded. "Then goodbye." She stepped into the portal, which closed behind her leaving Daemon alone.  
  
"Until we meet again, child," she whispered. "Until we meet again."  
  
* * * * *  
  
TBC  
  
* * * * * 


	11. Night of the Processing Deleted Part 1

Disclaimer: Oh you know the drill.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1011- Night of the Processing Deleted, Part 1

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

      "This is Investigative Reporter Mike the TV, bringing you a report the Super Computer _doesn't want you to access!"_

      "Cut!" Dot yelled. "Mike, a little less dramatic, please?"

      "Are you sure? Because if you want people's attention, sometimes you have to scare them a little." Mike demonstrated by making a mean face and holding his arms out in what was probably the least frightening monster pose Dot had ever seen.

      "I think the report is scary enough," she said. "And the Super Computer doesn't care if people see this or not. Just stick to the script, okay?"

      "Fine."

      Dot nodded. "Right. Take two, action!"

      "This is Mike the TV with an exclusive report. I'm afraid it's bad news Ladies and Gentlemen; as bad as news gets. This video file is intended to explain to residents of Mainframe the strange events of the past few cycles and to warn the entire Net of a deadly enemy in our very midst."

      Though he was delivering the lines with more doom and foreboding than was perhaps wise, at least Mike wasn't ad-libbing his own material this time. As long as he stuck to the facts Dot had laid down, the report shouldn't cause a panic. But it would let the Net know about Exabyte and give everyone a chance to start preparing for her imminent attack. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than leaving the rest of the Net in the dark, as the Guardians clearly intended to. Since her awakening, there had been no mention of Exabyte in any form of media anywhere in the Net. Few in Mainframe, let alone outside, even realized anything had happened.

      "Do you think this will work?" AndrAIa asked once they had left the soundproof studio.

      "It will get people's attention at least," Dot said. "Whether they believe it or not is another matter."

      "I'm scared, Dot," AndrAIa said. "I can't remember the last time I've been this scared."

      "I know," Dot agreed. "I think the waiting is the worst. Knowing she's out there and there's nothing we can do about until she decides to come to us."

      "No, the worst thing is that Hack and Slash won't be the last."

      "What?"

      "You know what I mean," AndrAIa said. "You feel it too. I just have a feeling not all of us will make it out of this alive."

      "Dot!" They both jumped as Glitch popped up in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere.

      "You really need to start walking instead of portalling everywhere, Glitch," AndrAIa said. "We're all high strung enough these seconds."

      "Sorry," the Keytool-turned-girl said sheepishly. "But this was an emergency."

      "What's wrong?" Dot asked.

      "It's Terabyte," Glitch said. "I went to her room to wake her up for training this morning and I couldn't find her. She's run away!"

*   *   *   *   *

      "How could you let her go?" Dot yelled, upset almost as much by Daemon's lack of reaction to her anger as she was by the Virus' actions.

      "It is not my function to keep track of your daughter, Mrs. Interface," Daemon said. "Nor to keep her here against her will."

      "What about the plan?"

      "In my opinion, hers was better."

      "In your opinion? Since when do I give a null's ASCII about your opinion? You're not in charge here! You don't dictate strategy, you follow it!"

      "You have no cause to be angry with me, Dot," Daemon said calmly. "The girl will not come to harm."

      "Oh well as long as you say so," Dot snapped sarcastically.

      "It is the truth," Daemon replied. "The night I was brought to Mainframe, only a few milliseconds after I first met Terabyte, I had a dream about her."

      "A dream?" Dot asked, incredulous.

      "I saw what I can only assume was the future. There will come a time when she and I will fight Exabyte together. She will not die. I will."

      "You know all of this based on a dream? Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical."

      "It was not just a dream, Dot," Daemon said. "I know enough of time to recognize the future when I see it. We will battle Exabyte and I will be deleted. But Terabyte will survive. She will win."

      "So you let her go..."

      "Because I believe she will return unharmed. And until then it is better for her to be independent than to enter that battle resenting her allies. "

      Dot sighed. "I'd love to believe that. And I do think you acted with the best intentions."

      Daemon nodded and made to leave, but Dot wasn't finished.

      "We don't do things on our own around here. Next time, run your beliefs _and your good intentions by the rest of us before you act on them, understood?"_

      "I am used to giving orders, not taking them," Daemon said.

      "I understand that, but you're working for us now. You process here at out sufferance, Daemon. Bob thinks you deserve a second chance and for now that's good enough for me; but only so long as you at least _try to live up to the trust he's placing in you."_

      "If there's nothing else..."

      "Just one thing. Phong wanted to talk to you."

      "Fine."

      "Daemon." Dot called out as she was leaving. "If you really believe this dream, then why are you still helping us? If you know it will get you deleted, I mean."

      Daemon shrugged. "I am a Virus. We are very territorial."

      After she left, Dot got the feeling that Daemon's response had not been entirely truthful. In fact the Super Virus' behavior since arriving had been markedly different from what Dot remembered. Even as she tried to put forth the same attitude, her actions betrayed her. So if Daemon's response had been a lie, who had she really been lying to: Dot, or herself?

*   *   *   *   *

      "You wished to see me, Phong?" Daemon stormed into the medical wing, still upset from her chewing out by Dot and from constantly being at someone's beck and call, as she found herself more and more lately. When she had agreed to take orders from Sprites, she had never imagined they would be so demanding.

      "Is something wrong, Daemon?" Phong asked.

      "It is nothing," she said. Either Phong bought that or, more likely, the old Sprite possessed too much tact to press the issue.

      "Well I will proceed straight to the point then," Phong said. "This is an issue I have been debating for some time now. I will tell you in all honesty that even I have considerable doubts about this course of action. However, I have spoken to the others and we have agreed that you should be registered with the system now while we still have time."

      "You want to register me?" Daemon almost laughed.

      Phong nodded. "Partly as a way to keep track of you, and partly for your own safety."

      "Explain to me how attaching an Icon with an Anti-Virus sequence to me is safe," Daemon said.

      "Though it pains me to contemplate it, Mainframe _will_ suffer heavy damage in the coming conflict. If the damage is too great, the User may perform a restart to repair the system. When that happens, anyone not registered with the Principal Office will be deleted. And as for the Anti-Virus on your Icon, your Viral energy is more than enough to keep it at bay."

      "You honestly wish to register me?"

      "Honestly, I have reservations about registering any Virus. But I am reminded of an old readme file; War makes for strange bedfellows. So far in this situation, you have shown yourself to be trustworthy. For now, that will have to suffice."

      _Trustworthy am I? You obviously have not talked to Dot this second._

      "Very well, Phong," she said. "If you believe this is a good idea, I suppose there must be some merit to it. I cannot believe the others agreed though."

      "But they did," Phong said, "Here in Mainframe..."

      "We do not do things on our own. I know, the group agrees."

      "Indeed. The others may not trust you, but they realize the necessity of the situation."

      "I suppose there is little reason for them to trust me. My record is against me."

      "Perhaps," Phong nodded. "But remember your own words Daemon. There is no past, no future. The past is over and the future has yet to occur. So we are not bound by our past, and the future can become whatever we choose to make it."

      "That was supposed to make me feel better, correct?"

      "Did it?"

      "A little."

      "Then yes."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Let's get this meeting started," Dot said as soon as everyone was assembled in the war room. "As you all probably know, Terabyte ran away last night. We can only assume that she is going after Exabyte herself."

      "Crazy little gal's Dell-bent on gettin' herself deleted," Mouse muttered under her breath.

      "Regardless," Dot pressed on, "We still have to prepare for Exabyte's attack; and for that we need allies. Turbo's gone back to try and convince the other Guardians, but if he doesn't succeed, we'll need to look elsewhere."

      "But where?" Matrix asked.

      "The Web?" Dot asked, turning to Bob.

      "I only knew that one tribe of Webriders," he said. "And by the time we managed to contact them it could be too late."

      "What about the Codemasters?" Matrix suggested. "Megabyte said they had a bad history with viruses."

      "Same problem," Ray pointed out. "How do you find them if they're not looking to be found? And besides, they're less likely to help than the Webriders."

      "Then we have to go with other systems," Dot said. "We put the word out to every system we can and hope they'll do the right thing. Dad, Phong; think you could set up some kind of message board to get news back and forth between systems?"

      "We can try," Welman said.

      "Why a board?" Mouse asked, "Wouldn't regular e-mail work just as well."

      "We'll use that too of course, to get the message out," Dot said. "But a message board will also be useful once the war really gets started. Exabyte's sure to try intercepting communication lines between systems. She might not notice something like this. It's worth a shot anyway."

      "There's one other place we might look for help," Bob said, turning to Daemon, "Viruses."

      "Most will ally themselves with Exabyte, willingly or otherwise," Daemon said. "The rest...

      ---WARNING! INCOMING GAME! WARNING! INCOMING GAME!---

      "Guess we'll have to finish this later," Dot said. "Where's the Game landing?"

      "Baudway!" Specky reported. "Right on the Diner!"

      "Enzo!" Dot cried out, "I left him there with Cecil!"

      "He seems a smart child," Daemon said. "I am sure he will get out in time."

      "You..._really don't know Enzo," Matrix said, heading for the door. He was followed closely by Bob, Glitch, Dot, and AndrAIa. Glancing down, Daemon ran her hand over the Icon now attached firmly to her armor. She could go into the game with the others, but they probably wouldn't appreciate it. Nevertheless, something told her it was vitally important that she be in this game. While the remaining Sprites were busy monitoring the descending Game Cube, Daemon headed out the door, following the others._

*   *   *   *   *

      The Game Cube contained a darkened city street. One or two streetlamps cast a meager glow upon the asphalt and from further down, around a corner, it looked like a fire was burning, the street was as still and quiet as a recycle bin. From somewhere in the distance, a scream rang out.

      "Glitch; game stats," Bob said.

      "You could say 'please'," Glitch replied in an annoyed voice from behind him.

      "Sorry," Bob said in an embarrassed voice, "Habit."

      "Right," Glitch nodded, "Okay let's see how we do this now..."

      A nanosecond later, Glitch's eyes went white and began blinking so rapidly, they could barely be seen. She stood rigid, trembling a little. When she spoke, what came out was closer to the System Voice than Glitch's usual upbeat voice.

      "Game: Zombie House 2. Survival Horror Adventure. User must complete set victory objectives while killing or avoiding monster Game Sprites," with the last word, Glitch went slack and nearly fell over before regaining her balance.

      "So we just take out the User. Shouldn't be too hard," Matrix said.

      "What about Enzo?" Daemon asked, causing the others to spin around from surprise. They hadn't even realized that she had entered the game.

      "What are you doing here?" Matrix asked.

      "I believe you Sprites refer to it as 'helping'," Daemon replied coolly.

      "Have you even been in a Game before, Daemon?" Bob asked.

      "It is nothing I cannot handle."

      "All right," Bob said, "I think we should split up. Dot, Daemon, and I will find Enzo. Matrix, AndrAIa, Glitch; you three go after the User. Where is he anyway?"

      Glitch concentrated for a moment, then the strange game info trance took her over again.

      "Error," said the strange flat voice, "No User detected." This time, Bob had to catch Glitch when she literally fell out of her trance.

      "That used to be easier," she said weakly.

      "How can there be a Game without a User?" Matrix asked what everyone was wondering.

      "Oh but there is a User here," a voice the entire group recognized far too well echoed down the empty street. The source wasted no time in showing herself. Exabyte materialized before them in a pillar of fire, looking exactly as she had the second she awoke, though there was perhaps a bit more bloodlust in her eyes now.

      Matrix raised Gun and emptied the clip at Exabyte. She calmly raised her hand and the bullets somehow took curving paths around her, returning to their original courses just in time to slam into a brick wall.

      "What do you want, Exabyte?" Bob demanded.

      "I'd remember, if I were you, what happened the last time you asked me that question," she replied.

      "You sent this game, why?" Daemon asked

      "Ah Daemon, I see you've lowered yourself to their level," Exabyte said, indicating Daemon's Icon. "I understand that you will always be a tool for others, but for Sprites?" she shook her head, "And I thought you could sink no lower."

      "I am no-one's tool," Daemon said furiously, stepping toward Exabyte even as Bob tried to drag her back.

      "Believe whatever you wish," Exabyte said with a shrug, "As for sending this Game Cube to Mainframe, I did no such thing. I merely noticed it approaching and thought this the perfect opportunity for a display of the power I will soon wield. I have removed the User and all the Game Sprites and replaced them with some competitors of my own."

      "What competitors?"

      "Do you believe in life after deletion?" Exabyte asked. "Are you even aware of how much of your data lingers after your pitiful lives are ended. You see, during my first attempt to control the Net, I found that one of the best ways to demoralize a system was to send their lost loved ones after them. May I present to you, my first and most numerous army!"

      In another blaze of fire, the alley was filled with a dozen Sprites and Binomes. They might have been normal people once, but now they were perhaps the worst thing Bob had ever seen. Three of them, two Sprites and a '1' Binome, were nothing but wireframes, with a few strips of clothing still hanging from them. The rest were in various states of fragmentation. Some were almost whole, though with grizzly wounds and pale, dead skin. Others were literally falling apart.

      "Aren't they magnificent?" Exabyte asked, "Neither processing nor deleted. Without morals or conscience, they obey only me. This is the fate reserved for those who refuse serve me in life: they serve me after death in the army of the Undeleted. Your task is simple, complete the User's objectives and finish the Game. Of course, the Undeleted will oppose you at every turn. While you play my little game, consider how much better it would be to join me willingly than to exist as they do."

      In an explosion of fire and ash, she was gone. But her voice lingered for one last taunt.

      "By the way, Mrs. Interface. I've sent a special detachment of my most putrid soldiers to visit your little brother. I do hope he likes them."

      From down the street came a scream that was not one of the game's programmed sound effects. It was the cry of a young boy. A scream of terror...and pain.

*   *   *   *   *  
TBC

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	12. Night of the Processing Deleted Part 2

Disclaimer: Oh you know the drill.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1100- Night of the Processing Deleted, Part 2

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*   *   *   *   *

      "What's goin' on Phong?" Mouse asked.

      "I do not know," Phong said, on the verge of panicking. "The monitors just went dead. We cannot get any readings from inside the game."

      "How could that happen?" Ray asked.

      "As far as I know, it cannot."

*   *   *   *   *

      As soon as Enzo's cry of alarm hit their ears, everyone sprang into action. Matrix reloaded Gun and mowed down the Undeleted blocking their path. As one, the group took off toward the source of the sound. The alley emptied out into the main street of a small town. A hardware shop, two department stores, and a deli lined the street. All the shops appeared to have been looted. The windows were smashed and the doors swung wide. In the middle of the road, a bright red fire engine lay on its side. Its gas tank had exploded, and a raging fire blocked the entire street.

      The sound of high-speed gunfire and breaking glass came from the deli, followed by the moans of the Undeleted. Bob had a feeling that if they survived this, those wordless moans would haunt his dreams for hours to come.

      "That is where the scream came from as well," Daemon said.

      Without waiting or even stopping a moment to consider, Dot sprinted for the abandoned building. Fortunately, Matrix managed to get ahead of her. He kicked open the door and rushed inside. Three shots rang out in rapid succession. By the time the rest of the group made it inside, there were three dead zombies lying on the floor of the deli and Matrix was already investigating the small room.

      "Enzo!" Dot called out hopefully. There was no answer.

      "Dot," Matrix said quietly. He handed his sister an old scuffed-up baseball. "It's Enzo's ball. ...There's energy on it."

      "No...Enzo..." Dot stared at the ball in horror. She couldn't bring herself to touch it.

      "Oh no..." AndrAIa gasped.

      Bob was as shocked and devastated as the rest of them, but he had to keep thinking clearly. If Enzo was in fact dead, then they had to get out of here alive, if only to make Exabyte pay. The only way they were going to survive was to learn everything they could about the situation and their enemy.

      He stepped around the bar, crouching down near where Matrix had found the baseball. There was a small pool of energy on the floor, still wet to the touch. Lying in and around the energy were dozens of spent cartridges from some type of gun.

      "Are there any bullet holes in the walls?" He asked.

      "Nope," Glitch said after checking the walls nearest her.

      "There are none on this side," Daemon added.

      "Hmm," Bob thought for a moment. "I think Enzo may still be processing."

      "What?" Dot asked, blinking through tears. "How...?"

      "One: There's no body, and this seems like the kind of game where those hang around. Two: we heard gunshots, and there are empty bullets all over the floor, but no bullet holes in the walls. Someone was shooting, and they hit whatever they shot. Three: there's enough energy here to fill a bathtub, but only a little on the ball. My guess is, the Undeleted attacked Enzo here. He probably did get hurt, assuming the energy on the ball is his. Then I'm guessing he dropped the ball and ReBooted. The game must have given him a gun that he used to shoot the one attacking him. That would account for all the energy here."

      "But then where is he?" AndrAIa asked. "Why wouldn't he stay here?"

      "He couldn't," Matrix said. "Even assuming he killed the one that was after him, which doesn't seem likely since there's no body, there were still at least three others in here. And it looks to me like he emptied the entire clip, so he couldn't fight them. Besides, he has no way of knowing we're even in the game, so it's not like he would wait for us to show up." 

      "And this is Enzo we're talking about," Bob added. "Even if he _wasn't running for his life, he wouldn't hang around here hiding. He'd go look for the User."_

      "So he's out there somewhere with those things chasing him and no ammo?" Dot asked. That idea didn't seem to comfort her much.

      "We'll find him," Bob assured her. "One thing we already know about these Undeleted things; they're not very fast. I'm sure Enzo can outrun them."

      "Of course, they do not need to be fast if bullets will not kill them," Daemon said.

      Bob turned to ask her what she meant, then he saw. The three Undeleted sprites Matrix had shot were rising shakily to their feet. They didn't seem to mind the huge bullet holes in their chests. In fact, the wounds barely bled as they staggered forward. Matrix raised Gun again, but hesitated, not sure that shooting them a second time would be any more effective.

      "The heads!" Glitch shouted, "Shoot them in their heads!"

      Matrix nodded and adjusted his aim. Gun's deafening report filled the entire building as the tallest Undeleted's head exploded in a shower of energy. The rest of the fragmented bitmap dropped instantly, twitched once, then lay still. 

      Before Matrix could take his second shot, the skeletal sprite nearest Daemon reached out and grabbed her. The two fell over in a tangle of limbs, the Undeleted on top trying to bite at Daemon's neck. In response, the Super Virus reached up and grabbed her attacker by the sides of its head and twisted. The head came of with a sickening wet *crunch* and the body fell over.

      With Daemon clearly able to take care of herself, Matrix turned to the final attacker. Apparently the first had been exceptionally ripe; this one's head stayed intact, but the shot was no less effective. The immediate danger over, Daemon pushed the re-deleted body off of her and allowed Bob to help her to her feet.

      "So a shot to the head or just removing it is all that works," he said. "I guess we'd better ReBoot and hope we all get guns."

      The other sprites nodded and double-clicked their icons.

      "ReBoot!" they said in unison. A bright green light filled the tiny restaurant, swirling around each of them. When it cleared, they were the same, but different.

      Bob's Guardian uniform had been replaced by a SWAT team jumpsuit with WTPD stenciled on the back. Dot wore a light blue uniform with padded shoulders and a beret. Matrix had a similar outfit, but without the headgear. Glitch wore light green fatigue pants and a white shirt with a red cross on the chest. AndrAIa was the only one who didn't look like a police officer; her usual outfit had been replaced with a black shirt and biker shorts worn underneath a pair of red denim shorts and a matching vest. At the same time, a large motorcycle appeared on the sidewalk outside.

      Matrix smiled and shook his head. "What _is it_ with you and bikes?"

      Daemon watched in awe as her companions transformed. She knew what ReBooting was, of course. But having never been in a game, she had never seen it happen.

      "Go on, Daemon," Bob said, sensing her reluctance. "Just double-click your icon and say 'ReBoot'."

      Daemon nodded and did as he said. The green light enveloped her, accompanied by a strange lightness in the pit of her stomach, a feeling of weightlessness. When it was over, her armor was gone. In it's place, she wore a tight, medium length red dress. Even her hair had changed, becoming much shorter and losing its usual ability to defy gravity and wind.

      "Everyone armed?" Bob asked. The other sprites nodded; ReBooting had equipped them all with basic pistols. Except for Matrix, who still had Gun.

      "I am not," Daemon said. She had not received a weapon with her new outfit.

      "We'll have to get you one as soon as possible," Bob said.

      "I do not need a gun."

      "You don't, but your game character might. Now that you've ReBooted, you may not be able to use some of your Viral powers."

      "You might have mentioned that before I did it," she said.

      "It's necessary," Bob said. "Some games have key items that won't work unless you ReBoot."

      "We'd better hurry," Dot said. "We have to find Enzo."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Any change?" Mouse asked.

      Phong shook his head. "We still cannot seem to scan the game cube. The scanners register it, but they cannot pick up energy levels or tell us anything about who is inside."

      "Well we know that part," Ray said. "Bob, Dot, AndrAIa, Matrix, and Glitch, probably Enzo too. Reports say everyone else made it to the evacuation points. There shouldn't be anyone else in there."

      "That is what worries me," Phong said. "Daemon followed them out before I could think to stop her. I believe she intended to enter the game as well."

      "What's wrong with that?" Mouse asked. "Maybe she'll finally do some good for a change."

      "I would not have permitted her to enter a game without further inspection of her Viral code, my child. In the history of the Net, a Super Virus of Daemon's power has never entered a game."

      "Your sayin' Daemon could have corrupted the game just by goin' into it?"

      "It is not a pleasant theory," Phong said. "But currently it is the only explanation I can think of."

      "Sir!" Specky cried out from across the room. "I think you should take a look at this. Sensors indicate a massive energy pulse heading for Mainframe!"

      "Exabyte?" Mouse gave voice to all their fears. "Not now!"

      Before Phong could respond, the pulse hit.

      Nothing happened.

*   *   *   *   *

      "According to the game stats, the User has to make it through the secret lab underneath the police station and steal their escape vehicle in order to win," Glitch said as they patrolled the darkened city streets, keeping their eyes open for any sign of Enzo.

      "How many levels is that?" Matrix asked.

      "No levels," Glitch said. "The entire game is one big level. As long as he has the right keys and the path isn't blocked the User can go anywhere he wants at any time. I'm assuming we can too."

      "That should make things easier," Daemon said.

      "Not necessarily," Bob said. "Games like this tend to make you double back and retrace your steps a lot. We could be in here for a long time."

      "But we can't lose right?" AndrAIa pointed out. "Without the User the game just keeps going until we win."

      "Yeah, but those undeleted can still get us at any time," Glitch said.

      "And while we're in here, Mainframe is missing most of its defenders if Exabyte shows up there," Bob added

      "Oh no," Dot gasped. "I just realized; what if she did this to get us out of the way while she destroys Mainframe?" 

      "That doesn't seem like her style," Matrix said. "I think she'll want to delete us face to face when the time comes."

      "What are you talking about?" Dot asked. "If her minions kill us in here, that's hardly face to face."

      "Oh yeah," Matrix muttered.

      "She could be there right now," Dot said. Now that the idea had entered her head she could not shake it.

      "We'd better hurry," Bob said.

      And they probably would have hurried, just as Bob suggested, if the Undeleted remains of something that was neither sprite nor binome had not chosen that moment to leave the concealing darkness of a nearby alley and leap at them with teeth bared and claws swinging.

*   *   *   *   *

      "Report," Phong said.

      "Nothing seems to have been affected," Specky said. "The Energy made it into Mainframe, but then it seemed to simply diffuse. Currently reading normal energy levels systemwide."

      "What was that?" Ray wondered aloud.

      "Sir!" Specky called again a moment later. "Vidwindows are activating all over the system!"

      "Vidwindows?"

      Outside, hundreds of vidwindows activated simultaneously. In addition to the Principal Office's four huge public broadcast windows, small windows opened at every street corner, in every home and business, anywhere that people might miss the main screens. Each window showed the same image. Though the average binome on the street didn't recognize her, the cold malice the lone figure radiated, even through a vidwindow, froze them in their tracks. The three sprites in the Principal Office recognized her far too well.

      "Exabyte," Phong said quietly. He didn't look at all scared to Mouse. Rather, for perhaps the first time since she had met him, Phong looked angry.

      "Greetings citizens of System Mainframe. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Exabyte, the once and future ruler of the entire Net. Consider yourselves lucky. My ascension back to glory will begin with your humble home. Your defenders, those you have trusted with your very code, are currently trapped in a game of my own design. It is unlikely any of them will emerge compiled. Soon I will return to a defenseless Mainframe. But do not fear, for out of the ashes of your little system will rise a glorious new era for the Net! Gone are the seconds of independent systems, cut off from one another. Soon the entire Internet will be united under one banner; _mine._ Controllers of Mainframe: You are hereby ordered to lower your defenses and permit my peacekeeping forces to occupy your system."

      "We will never surrender to you!" Phong said.

      Exabyte seemed to notice the sprites in the control room for the first time. She smiled thinly with recognition.

      "Phong," she laughed, "You old flirt, are you still kicking around?"

      "If you remember me so well, you should know better than to ask for my surrender," Phong replied

      "I rather hoped age would make you wise," Exabyte said.

      "You will not win, Exabyte. You will be defeated, just as you were before."

      "We shall see, Phong. I'll call back once my game is over. Let's see how brave you are with your precious Guardian nullified."

*   *   *   *   *

      The creature landed in the middle of the group, screeching a challenge at its enemies. It was thin and spindly, like an insect in the shape of a sprite. Its six limbs - two legs and four arms - all ended in wicked, hook shaped claws and its mouth was full of knife-like teeth. It turned in a quick circle, sizing up each of them before they could make a move. Then, flexing its powerful legs, it leaped at Dot, knocking her gun away with one hand while bringing the others up to slash at her.

      "Dot!" Glitch cried, "Use your self-defense weapon!"

      Instinctively, Dot reached for the holster opposite her gun, where her self-defense weapon sat. Expecting a knife, she instead found a small signal flare. By then, the creature was on top of her, pushing her to the ground and getting ready for the killing blow. Desperately, Dot shoved the flare up into its face just as the monster leaned in to bite her. The jaws clamped down on the flare, which exploded in a rush of white fire. The Undeleted beast screeched, jumped off Dot and tried to retreat down the alleyway, but it barely made three steps before the burning flare engulfed it.

      "So it's one of _those_ games," Matrix said, examining the charred remains.

      "That was your defensive weapon?" Bob asked, helping Dot up.

      She nodded. "Magnesium flares. They're great for hand to hand combat."

      "Not that great," Daemon said, "Your hand does not look so good."

      Dot hadn't noticed her own injury. Now, looking at the burns the exploding flare had inflicted, the pain hit her hard. Glitch pulled an aerosol can marked 'first aid' out of her pack.

      "These should work for us," she said, shaking the can, "I hope."

      As soon as the spray touched her burns, the pain began to dissipate. The blisters that had been rising disappeared and blackened skin faded back to its natural green.

      "So the User's items work for us now," Bob said. "Good to know."

      "What was that thing?" AndrAIa asked.

      "A prehistoric Virus," Daemon said. "Little more than an animal in intellect, but immensely powerful physically."

      "So it's not just Sprites and Binomes that can become Undeleted," Dot said.

      "No," Daemon said. "Exabyte can convert anything that processes into a zombie. There is no telling what else we may encounter here."

      "Our mission is still the same though," Matrix said. "We have to find Enzo and win the game. That's all that..." He was interrupted by a long, low growl coming from back in the diner. A clicking sound, the sound of claws on a tile floor, reached their ears, coming toward the open door. The source of the sound wasted no time revealing itself. A half-dozen low, compact shapes stalked into the alley. They had been dogs once, but one look at their torn skin and lifeless eyes showed them to be more of Exabyte's Undeleted.

      The dogs moved with their heads low to the ground, sniffing furiously. Following the scent of prey. One lifted its head and locked eyes with Bob. A short whine got the rest of the pack's attention. The rabid, unliving canines growled menacingly at their quarry. The leader lifted its head and let out a low, mournful howl. The others picked up the call, which was then answered by numerous voices throughout the town. Soon the pack was joined by another group of six. The pack now outnumbered them two-to-one. The leader fell silent and crouched down, ready to charge. The others followed suit.

      Bob spoke very low, in a harsh, fearful growl of his own.

      "Run."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Mouse, Ray," Phong said, "If you would please, coordinate with the CPUs to keep the citizens from panicking."

      "Sure thing," Ray said, heading for the hall. "Coming love?"

      "In a nano," Mouse said. When Ray had gone, she turned to Phong. "Call me random, but it sounded to me like you two know each other."

      "It is a long readme, child," Phong replied. "And now is not the time."

      Mouse frowned, but finally nodded. "If it was anyone else but you, Phong, Ah'd want an explanation before doin' another thing. Fortunately, yer one of the few Sprites in the Net Ah trust."

      "For now, Mouse, I can assure you that my history with Exabyte only increases my desire to see her defeated."

*   *   *   *   *

      After Bob told them to run, the entire team had made a mad dash down the alley, the Undeleted hounds at their heels. Somewhere along the way, Daemon had lost track of the others. One Nano, Matrix was right beside her. The next she was running alone. One persistent dog still followed her. And without a gun, she had no way of fighting it. 

      Glancing ahead, she saw a glimmer of hope. The building a block ahead of her had a ladder that led up to the roof. If she could make it there, she could elude her pursuer. Just a few more steps...

      But she couldn't make a few more steps. She felt the dog's icy, dead breath at her back. Determined to make a last stand with whatever of her strength remained after ReBoot, Daemon turned to face the attacker, just in time to see it thrown away from her by a bullet to the chest.

      "Up here!" a voice called from the roof. "Hurry! Before it gets up!"

      Daemon swung up onto the ladder and made it to the roof just as the hound got back to its feet. Enzo stood at the top of the ladder. A bite on his shoulder still oozed energy, but otherwise he seemed unhurt.

      "Daemon?" he asked, getting his first real look at who he had rescued. "What are you doing here?"

      "I am beginning to wonder that myself," she said. "Are you all right?"

      "What, this?" Enzo shrugged, trying to act brave. "It looks worse than it feels."

      Daemon nodded. However, she noticed that he only shrugged with his uninjured shoulder.

      "Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed, "You're ReBooted! You've got an Icon! So why didn't you get a gun when you ReBooted? Are you still super-strong? Why do you think the Game Sprites are coming after us instead of looking for the User?"

      "Be quiet," Daemon said, silencing him instantly, "One thing at a time. We need to find the others and regroup. Is there any other way off this roof?"

      "There's a door over there," he pointed, "but it's locked."

      Daemon went to the door and grabbed the handle. Time to find out how much strength she still had. Gripping the doorknob firmly, she pulled. Enzo ducked as the door flew, hinges and all, over his head and off the roof.

      "Alphanumeric! Can you do that again?"

      "I will need to find another door first," Daemon said. But she couldn't help smiling. At least she still had one weapon. A darkened flight of stairs led down into the building. Wishing she had a flashlight, or better yet an actual weapon, Daemon descended into the darkened building, Enzo following close behind.

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot and Matrix stopped running when they reached a dead end in a dark alley. With blank brick walls on three sides, there was no way out. Fortunately, they were no longer accompanied by zombie dogs.

      "I think we lost them," Dot said, searching for their pursuers back the way they had come.

      "I think _we're lost," Matrix said, "Did you see the others anywhere?"_

      "No. I thought I saw Glitch duck down a side street, but I couldn't be sure."

      "How smart do you think these zombie things are?" Matrix asked.

      "Well besides that Virus, none of them _looked_ very smart. Why?"

      "If we really wanted to find the others, I could send up a flare with Gun. But of course, _everyone_ can see that and it might attract the kind of attention we don't want."

      "Hmm..." Dot pondered that for a moment. "I think we should risk it," she finally said. "I can't shake the feeling that Exabyte locked us in here so she could do something to Mainframe. We have to finish this game as fast as we can, that means finding Bob and the others."

      "All right," Matrix nodded, "Here goes nothing. Gun; flare."

*   *   *   *   *

      After what seemed like forever, the sound of gunfire ceased. Eerie silence settled back over the town. The three sprites, backed up against an overturned school bus, lowered their pistols, grateful to still be processing. Before them lay nearly three-dozen Undeleted dogs, all fully deleted now. The nearest lay directly at Glitch's feet. It had been rearing up to sink its teeth into her throat when one of AndrAIa's bullets caught it in the head.

      "Is that the last of them?" Glitch asked.

      "Looks like it," Bob said. "Good thing too, I'm out of ammo."

      "Same here," Glitch said.

      "That makes three of us," AndrAIa frowned, surveying the mountains of empty brass casings around them. "Any idea where we can find some more?"

      "That depends on where we are," Bob said. 

      "I thought I saw a sign for the police station back that way," Glitch said. "We need to get there anyway, and there's bound to be ammo somewhere inside."

      "Right," Bob agreed, "Let's go."

      Suddenly, the sky lit up. They all shielded their eyes as a bright white ball shot up into the air from somewhere nearby.

      "What is that?" Glitch asked, squinting against the glare.

      "It's a signal flare," AndrAIa said. "It's from Gun."

      "Matrix!"

      "It came from this way," AndrAIa set off, leading them toward the source of the flare.

*   *   *   *   *

      "What kind of clock is this?" Daemon wondered aloud, glaring at the immobile hands on the tall, grandfather clock. "Apart from a broken one, I mean."

      "I'm more worried about the door than the clock," Enzo said. "You sure you can't open it?"

      "It will not budge. And for some reason I could not break the lock."

      "Hold on, that gives me an idea," Enzo reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin metal file. "I got this when I ReBooted. Maybe I can use it to pick the lock."

      "You can do that?" Daemon asked.

      "Well...no. Not really." Enzo frowned briefly, then brightened up. "But maybe my game character can. Why else would I have this?"

      "Well give it a try."

      Enzo knelt down in front of the doorknob. For a long time he just sat there.

      "Well?" Daemon asked.

      "Uh...there's no keyhole," Enzo said, as if he wasn't sure he really believed it.

      "How can there be a locked door without a keyhole?" Daemon asked.

      "I've got it! This is a puzzle room! We have to solve the puzzle to get out. Look around, see if there's writing anywhere."

      The room seemed rather bare. A large wooden square with a polished marble floor. The grandfather clock by the door, and a marble bust of an old man in each corner. It wasn't until they had searched the entire room at least twice that Daemon noticed the tiny gold letters on the clock's face.

      "The hands I bear, the numbers on my face, and the men who watch," she read. "What is that?"

      "That's our clue," Enzo said. 

      "But what does it mean?"

      "You're the clock lady," Enzo shrugged. "You tell me."

      "It would seem that we have to make the clock read a certain time to open the door."

      "Wait, how many hands does the clock have?" Enzo asked.

      Daemon checked the hands, all of which currently rested at '6'. "There are three," she said.

      "That's it," Enzo said, "Each part of the clue tells us where one hand goes. The clock has three hands and twelve numbers. So the first hand goes to three and the second goes to twelve. But what about the third? 'The men who watch...?" He frowned, thinking.

      "The statues!" Daemon realized. "There are four of them. The last hand goes to four."

      As soon as the third hand clicked into place, they heard the tumblers moving in the lock. Enzo tried the door and it swung open easily. The door opened into a large, two-story room. They were on a narrow balcony that ran around the perimeter. Below them was a reception area with polished tile floors and several desks. Set in the middle of the floor was a mosaic in the shape of a shield. Daemon recognized the symbol immediately. It had appeared on most of the sprites when they ReBooted. Through blind luck, they had stumbled into the police station.

      "Is there any way down there?" Daemon asked.

      "I don't see any stairs," Enzo said. "Maybe we could..."

      A deafening *BOOM* rang out as two giant fists smashed through the door behind them. In a moment, the door was reduced to splinters. Out of the darkened clock room, crouching to fit through the doorway, stepped one of the Undeleted. It was as big as two full grown sprites with the muscles of a weightlifter. It seemed to be holding together better than the rest of the zombies, though that could have been thanks to the thick rubber raincoat wrapped around its body. Its face was so twisted and deformed that no one could have said for certain whether it was sprite or virus. The worst part was the eyes. The Undeleted had eyes as dead as the rest of them, but not this one. He looked down at the figures before him, and his pitch black eyes focused on Daemon. A low rumble built up in its chest, transforming into a growl deep in its throat. It took Daemon a moment to realize that the thing wasn't just growling. It was speaking.

      "Word..." It looked straight into Daemon's eyes, as if it could impale her with its gaze. "The...Word..."

      "Enzo;" Daemon said in a cold, quiet voice. "Run. Find the others. Finish the game."

      "But..."

      "You cannot fight him. It is me he wants; let him try. Go! Now!"

*   *   *   *   *  
TBC

*   *   *   *   *


	13. Night of the Processing Deleted Part 3

Disclaimer: Oh you know the drill.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1101- Night of the Processing Deleted, Part 3

*   *   *   *   *

      Daemon stood defiantly before her enemy. The giant zombie was at least twice as tall as she, yet she refused to back down. Not waiting for him to make the first move, Daemon lunged at the monster, kicking him square in the chest. It was like hitting a brick wall, except that a brick wall would have collapsed under the force of Daemon's kick. The zombie barely flinched. Instead it was Daemon who fell, bouncing off her unyielding target and landing hard on her back.

      Before she could get up, the big zombie sprang into action. It was faster than its brethren. In fact, it was faster than most _processing_ beings. It grabbed Daemon by one leg and swung her into the nearest wall. The cement and drywall crumbled, leaving a Daemon-shaped indentation in the wall. Continuing its relentless assault, the zombie slammed Daemon against the wall three more times. Then, lifting her bruised and bloodied form in both arms, it threw her over the railing with all its might.

      Enzo watched the battle being played out before him in horror. His mind told him to do as Daemon had said and get out, but his legs would not move. And that was bad, because once Daemon landed in the first floor with a sickening *THUD*, the monster turned its attention on Enzo. It stalked toward him, raising its massive hands. Having just seen those hands beat Daemon, of all people, into submission, Enzo had no trouble imagining what they could do to him.

      He threw a desperate glance to where Daemon lay...except she no longer lay there. He had just enough time to wonder where she had gone before a hand shot up through the floor beneath the overgrown zombie, grabbed its ankle, and pulled it down through the floor of the balcony, into the lobby below.

      Enzo turned away from the gaping hole in the balcony and ran for the nearest door.

*   *   *   *   *

      The police station was as disturbingly quiet as the rest of the town. No zombies attacked as they climbed the steps to the main entrance. Of course, nothing being easy, the front doors turned out to be locked.

      "There has to be another entrance," Dot said.

      "Maybe around back," Bob suggested.

      "Should we split up again?" Matrix asked.

      Dot vetoed that idea. "The last thing we need is to get separated again."

      "But we still need to find Enzo too. And what happened to Daemon?" Glitch asked.

      "Well, let's be realistic," Bob replied. "She's probably...you know."

      "I don't think so," Matrix said. "I've never seen anyone so hard to delete. She's around, somewhere."

      "But where?" Dot wondered.

      "Does anybody else hear that?" AndrAIa asked.

      "Hear what?"

      Before AndrAIa could answer, the double doors in the front of the police station flew off their hinges as a huge figure in a black raincoat smashed through them. The giant flew over their heads and landed in a heap at the bottom of the steps. In the doorway stood Daemon. She was a mess; her clothes torn, covered in dust, and bleeding from half a dozen rather substantial injuries, including a nasty gash in her stomach. She was also enraged, and barely noticed the sprites as she stalked toward her enemy.

      "See," Matrix muttered.

      As Daemon approached the giant, he rose shakily to his feet. He bore just as many wounds as Daemon, but as he was clearly undeleted, it was hard to tell which, if any, were from their battle.

      "Daemon!" getting her attention, Dot tossed the Virus her gun. Daemon had intended to finish off the zombie with her bare hands, but she was not above accepting help. She caught the gun and emptied it at the giant zombie. A few of the shots went wide, most hit the chest, but three caught the monster square in its forehead. The big guy went down hard and stayed down.

      "Are you all right Daemon?" Bob asked.

      "Much better now," she replied.

      "What did you two do to each other?" Matrix asked, surveying the wreckage that had once been a lobby.

      "Mostly violence."

      "Those cuts look pretty bad," Glitch said, "maybe we should..."

      "I will be fine," Daemon said. "I have had worse."

      "Uh, Daemon, you've still got shrapnel sticking out of you," AndrAIa said, pointing to a short, twisted scrap of rebar lodged in Daemon's shoulder. Trying to appear casual, Daemon grabbed the fragment of metal and yanked it out. A pained expression came over her as she tried to keep from crying out.

      "Perhaps...Perhaps I should...just wait here...for a moment..." She said through gritted teeth.

      "There's got to be a first aid kit around here somewhere," Bob said.

      "Maybe in those offices," Glitch suggested, pointing across the demolished lobby. A door marked 'Office' led into a side room separated from the main lobby by frosted glass windows. Amazingly, the glass was still intact.

      They didn't find a first aid kit in the office, but they did find...

      "Enzo?" Dot asked.

      The young sprite was huddled in the corner of a cubicle. He was dirty and bruised, and the bite on his shoulder had to be hurting him terribly, but when he heard his sister's voice he sprang up and ran to her as if he wasn't wounded at all. 

      "Are you all right Enzo?" Dot asked, hugging him and checking for other injuries at the same time.

      "I'm fine," he insisted, pulling away. "But I'm out of bullets."

      "That makes...a lot of us."

      "Sorry," Daemon said, handing Dot her empty gun, "It _was your idea."_

      "Did you get him?" Enzo asked Daemon.

      The Virus nodded. "He is now fully deleted."

      "So now we're all together, where's this underground lab?" Matrix asked. "That's where we have to go to end the game, right?"

      "Enzo," Daemon asked, "You got down here by the stairs correct?"

      "Yeah," Enzo said, "They're right through there." He pointed to another door, opposite the windows. "But there's a grate blocking the stairs down to the basement. We'll need a key to get down there."

      "Why don't you search the latest body," Exabyte's disembodied voice taunted them. Everyone lifted their guns, despite their lack of ammunition, looking for a target. But it was just a voice, echoing in the distance.

      "She's toying with us," Bob said.

      "Do you think biggie out there really has the key?" Matrix asked.

      "Well if you can't trust a psychotic evil User, who can you trust?" Glitch deadpanned.

      "One way to find out," Bob said.

*   *   *   *   *

      The key was right there, lying at the foot of the steps amid the splintered remains of the front doors. However, the key was all that was there.

      "Uh...where's the body?" AndrAIa asked.

      "I deleted him," Daemon insisted, "I watched him die. We all did."

      "Well at least the key's here," Enzo said.

      "Yes, that should provide immense comfort for you when our large friend crushes your head with one hand," she replied. Enzo gulped, terrified.

      "Now we know why Exabyte was so helpful," Bob said. "She wanted us to know he was still alive. More scare tactics."

      "You always think the worst of me, Guardian."

      They spun around. This time Exabyte really was there, not just her voice.

      "Well you and I got off to kind of a bad start," Bob reminded her.

      "I admit, at first I was quite eager to wipe you all from the face of the Net," Exabyte said. "But then I spent some time researching your exploits, all of you. You Mainframers may be the most powerful group of sprites in the Net. Strong enough to fight that which was created to destroy me," she cast an evil look at Daemon. "Imagine what we could do together."

      "You've gotta be kidding."

      "I never kid, Guardian. I have trapped you in this game to show you the wisdom in allying yourselves with me. Now I demonstrate that I can be as merciful as I am mighty. That key will lead you directly to the escape vehicles and out of this game. You have my word that the Undeleted will not attempt to impede your progress. Except of course, for her!" Again, Exabyte glared directly at Daemon.

      "Oh, I do not get to join your club?" Daemon feigned disappointment. "I am crushed."

      "This deal hinges upon you leaving the Destroyer to be deleted by my servant. It is only fitting," Exabyte said. "She was created to destroy me. And I created him to destroy her."

      "I don't get it," Matrix said. "If you hate Daemon so much, why not just kill her."

      "Thank you Matrix, so glad to know I am appreciated," Daemon snapped.

      "No, he's right," AndrAIa said. "You can delete with a touch, why send some big dumb zombie to do your dirty work for you?"

      "My offer stands, do you accept or not?"

      "You can't touch us, can you?" Matrix asked.

      "Why is he taunting her?" Dot hissed at Bob.

      "Because he understands," Bob whispered back.

      "If you're so powerful, prove it," Matrix continued. "Kill her like you killed Clash. I won't try to stop you, she ruined my life."

      For the first time, Exabyte looked helpless.

      "You can't touch us. You stuck us in here and now all you can do is project your image at us, trying to frighten us into submission. But how afraid should we be of someone who needs dead people to do everything for her? And since we have your key now, I don't think we'll be needing your help any more."

      Exabyte's eyes narrowed. "I offered you your lives and you choose instead to protect a worthless Virus. More's the pity. Now I will have to destroy all of you. You may be safe from me in this place, but outside you cannot protect yourselves." She got right in Matrix's face. "And when the time comes, Renegade, I will make sure your suffering is the greatest of all."

      In a flash of fiery light, she vanished.

      "Where did you learn to bluff like that?" Dot asked.

      "We spent about an hour in a poker game," Matrix answered.

      "Don't remind me," AndrAIa laughed, "I thought the User would never get tired of that thing."

      "Anyway we both got pretty good at bluffing. But this was more a case of calling her bluff actually."

      "Pretty big risk," Bob said.

      "Well I figured if I was wrong we'd only lose Daemon."

      "Once again, I am overwhelmed with your compassion," Daemon said.

      "Deal with it. That part about you ruining my life wasn't a bluff. Now talk; what did she mean you were created to destroy her?"

      "Not me in particular," Daemon said. "You see, I was not always as I am now. The Cron format existed long before I was initialized. It was created during to contain Exabyte, or to destroy her if containment failed. Until recently, I bore that format. I still have what remains of it in me."

      "If you're supposed to fight her, why did you try to destroy the Net?" Dot asked.

      "That was the method chosen to destroy her. The only way to be sure she could not return."

      "Isn't that kind of like removing a disease by deleting the patient?" Bob asked.

      "It was necessary, because of the way Exabyte infects. Her code is powerful enough to permeate the entire Net, to be in all places at once. Unless all of her is destroyed, she will survive any attack. The first Guardians compressed her into a fractal seed and threw it into the Web. However, some viruses believed that this measure was not enough. They knew that Exabyte would call to her children. And so they formed the Word, a secret society of viruses dedicated to ensuring that Exabyte remained imprisoned. The Word infiltrated every level of government in every system. They made sure that no one even believed in the Web. Meanwhile, the highest Acolytes made sure that Exabyte's children never found her.

      "The Cron format was created to be the Word's greatest warrior. Most of the time, the high Acolytes were enough to stop the Web from opening onto the Net. But when a large enough threat appeared, such as a virus attempting to access the Web, one Acolyte would be chosen to carry the Cron format, becoming the living embodiment of the Word. This happened three times. Each time, the offending Virus was destroyed and the Word became dormant again. In the past ten hours, the Web became more and more well known. The regular Acolytes were not enough to take care of the situation, and so I was chosen from among them to become the Word. When the Web began to actively invade systems, we knew that Exabyte could no longer be contained by any means short of destruction. That is why I set out to erase the Net."

      "So all that talk about Unity and everything was a load of spam," Matrix said.

      "That is one way of putting it," Daemon said, "I knew that when my mission was complete, every being in the net would be deleted. But I saw no reason to fill everyone's last seconds with terror. Had I succeeded, you would all have died happy."

      "Don't try making yourself out to be some kind of hero!" Matrix said. "What about all the people who lived in terror before you 'brought the Word' to them? What about the people you deleted in your mission?"

      "I never said I was a benevolent program, Matrix," Daemon replied. "Exabyte is correct to call me the Destroyer. That is my function, the function of the Word. But whenever possible, I try not to be cruel, or inhumane. Yes, I have killed. I have brought war and terror to innocents. I set about to delete every man woman and child in the Net. And if I still had the power, I would do it all again if it meant destroying her. I carry the memories of those who were Daemon before me; I have seen the things Exabyte did during the last Great War. She delights in one thing, inflicting pain. In my dreams, I have seen her do things that wake me in the night, screaming, things that would shatter your mind if you saw them. The destruction I brought would have been merciful in comparison to what she will do."

      "So stop her," Bob said, "That's your function, isn't it?"

      "It is not that simple, Bob," Daemon said. "The Cron format had the power to elevate a chosen Virus, making its host the Super Virus Daemon and the power to destroy the entire Net, causing the Web to crash and destroying Exabyte forever. But as you can imagine, such a thing requires tremendous power. And of course there is no reason for the source of that power to be able to recharge."

      "Are you saying...?" Dot began.

      "The Cron format is no more," Daemon nodded. "It expended itself fully to destroy the Net, but was stopped. The parts of it that resided in my Code remain, so I am still Daemon. But the Cron's true destructive power can never be used again. And I do not know if my power alone is enough to stop Exabyte. I simply do not know."

*   *   *   *   *

      Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly, unfathomably wrong. As he paced back and forth across his living room, Megabyte found that even his admittedly superior mind was ill equipped to handle the amount of wrongness he currently felt.

      The second had started so well. A glass of rather expensive I/O, a good readme file, and no sign of the Guardian. Then the game had dropped on Baudway, trapping Bob and, according to the reports, most of his crew inside. That wasn't wrong. Actually the outside chance that the Guardian and his posse might end up as nulls, however unlikely, was rather amusing.

      Then Exabyte had made her announcement. This put him firmly in the target category, not a place he wished to be when dealing with the very originator of his viral strain.

      And yet the message, though certainly distressing, was not what was wrong either. The problem, the massive wrongness, was what he found himself wanting to do about all this.

      He wanted to help.

      The compulsion had come over him almost before Exabyte's vidwindows had vanished. The feeling that he, and only he, could save Mainframe now. The only question was why he should suddenly want to save Mainframe. Especially since offering his expertise meant dealing with Phong, and Bob should he survive the Game.

      Still, Megabyte couldn't shake the desire to do something, to lend his knowledge and experience, if not his brawn, to the coming battle.

      He should call Phong. No, he absolutely should not call Phong. The last thing he needed was for Exabyte to arrive and find him collaborating with the enemy. Then again, if he lent his assistance, perhaps she could be stopped, or contained again. It came down to a question of which was greater, his fear of Exabyte, or his sudden, inexplicable desire to be helpful. 

      He opened up a vidwindow and began dialing.

*   *   *   *   *

      The twisting, labyrinthine halls of the police building's sub-basement seemed to stretch on forever. Every so often, a metal staircase would lead them down another level, into even deeper darkness. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Undeleted had resumed their attacks with a vengeance. It was as if Exabyte were directing her fury through the shambling corpses, which may not have been far from the truth.

      Since most of them were out of ammunition, it was up to Matrix to keep them safe from the zombie hordes since Gun never went empty. Occasionally, their explorations would yield a box of bullets, but they never lasted. In the long periods between, Gun was all that stood between the group and all sorts of nasty deletion.

      In the plus column though, the skeleton key let them open all the locked doors. It was just a matter of figuring out which door would lead them out of the game.

      Matrix swore in frustration as they reached yet another dead-end.

      "I guess maybe we should have gone left at that last T-junction," Glitch said.

      "You think?" Matrix snapped. "I hate to be all demanding, but you know what might be really helpful? A map!"

      "Well sorry, I left my map of the game I've never seen in my other pants!" Glitch replied.

      "This isn't helping, you two," Dot said. "Let's just go back there and go left this time.

      "Alternately, we could face the reality that we are lost," Daemon muttered.

      "This has to be the lowest level," Bob said, "This was as far down as the lift went and we haven't seen any other stairs."

      "So what now?" AndrAIa asked.

      Bob sighed. "We go back to the T-junction and go left this time."

*   *   *   *   *

      "So that's how it is," Megabyte finished explaining his desire to help. "What do you say?"

      Phong, Mouse, and Ray regarded him silently for a few long nanoseconds.

      "Want me to shoot him?" Mouse finally spoke up.

      "No," Phong shook his head, "Shooting would be too good for him."

      "Do you accept my assistance or not?" Megabyte asked, annoyed.

      "What exactly are you offering us?" Phong asked.

      "My knowledge of Viral tactics, and my considerable experience in the art of war."

      "Well we've got Daemon for that," Mouse pointed out, "And I gotta say, she was better than you at both."

      "Perhaps, but realistically, you must acknowledge the fact that Daemon may not emerge from that Game. In fact, it is possible none of them will. And where would that leave you?" Megabyte asked.

      "Why should we trust you?" Ray asked. "You don't really have a great track record."

      "As you all love to remind me," Megabyte replied, "I am just a Sprite now. If you lose, I lose. I'll be just as deleted as everyone else, not a prospect I relish."

      Phong sighed. "If you truly wish to help, I suppose we can find some use for you," he said.

      Mouse was somewhat less forgiving. "If you even so much as think about _thinking about betraying us, I'll delete you."_

*   *   *   *   *

      "We're close," Glitch said happily, "We've got to be!"

      "I hope you're right," Dot said. She couldn't shake the feeling that Exabyte was laying waste to Mainframe while they stumbled around in these tunnels.

      "Well if we stay down here long enough, we'll probably find the exit by accident eventually," AndrAIa added.

      "There's only a few unmarked tunnels left," Matrix said. He had been using Gun to mark each hallway with paintballs. That way at least they wouldn't keep taking the _same_ wrong paths.

      "Well let's give this one a try," Bob said, starting down the nearest unmarked hall. The hall sloped even further downward, but unlike the rest of the facility the air inside was fresh, not stagnant. 

      "This must be it," Bob said. "That air has to be coming from an opening at the other end."

      They continued down the dimly lit corridor for another few microseconds before it ended in a heavy metal door.

      "I've got a good feeling about this one..." Bob said, using the skeleton key on the door. The door ground open slowly to reveal the giant zombie waiting for them. "...and it's gone."

      The giant batted Bob out of the way, slamming him against a wall, and roared in fury. Matrix tried to pull Gun up, but the Undeleted sent him flying as well.

      "Run!" Daemon told the others, stepping forward. "Get to the escape vehicle!"

      "But what about you?" Enzo asked.

      "Just go!" Daemon yelled.

      They didn't need to be told again. AndrAIa and Dot helped their men get up and the group ducked past the zombie, who was focused entirely on Daemon.

      "The Word..."

      "That is right," Daemon grinned. "Come and get it!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Enzo struggled as Glitch dragged him across the hangar. At the far end, a subway car waited to get them out. The others were heading toward it as fast as they could, but Enzo resisted. Or at least he was trying to resist. Glitch wasn't that much bigger than he was, but it felt like she was almost as strong as Matrix. He couldn't break free of her grip.

      "Let me go!"

      "Enzo, what's gotten into you?" Glitch asked

      "We have to go back! He'll delete her!"

      "She can take care of herself!" Glitch said.

      "Glitch, please! She saved my life, we have to help her!"

      "We are getting on that train, right now!" Glitch insisted.

      "No!" With no other choice, Enzo stepped as hard as he could on Glitch's foot. With her thick boots, she was more surprised than injured, but it was enough to loosen her grip. He pulled free and ran back toward the entryway.

      "Enzo!" Glitch called after him.

      "I know what I'm doing!" He yelled back. "Don't leave without us!"

*   *   *   *   *

      Daemon lashed out at the giant. She knew from before that one massive blow wouldn't do the trick. But if she could just keep one step ahead of him, she could wear him down with a flurry of smaller attacks. The only trouble was that this particular undeleted was _fast_! 

      As she finished off a particularly devastating combo with a kick to the head, he reached up and grabbed her ankle before she could react. The next thing Daemon knew, he had thrown her against the wall. She heard a sickening crack and felt a sharp pain in her side as at least one rib gave way. But she couldn't let that stop her. She had to buy time for the others to get away.

      Rising painfully to her feet, Daemon dove back at the giant, hooking her foot out to trip him. As soon as she felt him start to go down, she flipped around and planted another kick in his face as he fell. The monster barely reacted. He was up on his feet just as quickly as Daemon. A nanosecond later, he had her arm in one hand and was twisting. She managed not to scream when her arm broke, but her enemy wasn't done yet. It kept twisting, intent on ripping the limb off completely.

      "Hey, you big dipswitch! Let her go!"

      The giant turned at the sound of the new voice. A thick metal pipe swung through the air and slammed into his wrist, causing him to drop Daemon. Enzo backed away from the giant, holding the length of pipe out in front of him. He had been lucky to catch the monster by surprise, but he knew he was no match for it now that he had its full attention.

      "Enzo..."

      "Get to the train!" Enzo cut her off. "I'm right behind you!"

      Daemon nodded and scrambled to her feet. As she passed him, Enzo swung his pipe again, this time at the control panel for the hangar door. The panel exploded in a shower of sparks and the door began to drop. Enzo rolled under, with the giant hot on his heels. A huge hand shot out through the rapidly narrowing gap, trying to snare his leg, only to be severed a moment later when the door slammed fully shut. On the other side, the giant gave its first sign of pain, a bellow that shook the entire hangar. Then it began banging on the door, threatening to tear it down.

      Daemon and Enzo ran for the train even as the door gave way behind them. Even missing one arm, the giant was faster than an injured Sprite and a half-deleted Virus. It was closing on them, almost there. The train was too far, they wouldn't make it. The giant reached out with its remaining hand to grab Daemon... and exploded into a hundred pieces. Daemon looked up to see Bob in the doorway of the train, holding a long, green metal tube; a rocket launcher. Bob lowered the smoking weapon and helped them aboard. As the train rumbled down its track, out of the station, what remained of the giant's body turned to dust, and then disappeared completely.

*   *   *   *   *

--GAME OVER--

      Emergency crews were ready to take care of the survivors as soon as the Game lifted off. Two Binomes in white uniforms rushed Daemon into an ambulance, which sped off toward the principal office. Another doctor began treating the bite on Enzo's shoulder.

      "What happened?" Phong asked.

      "Exabyte," Bob said. "She took over the Game, tried to get us to join her."

      "I suspected as much," Phong nodded sadly.

      "You did?" Dot asked. "How?"

      "We got a message of our own," Mouse replied.

      "Exabyte offered us the opportunity to surrender," Phong said.

      "Enough is enough," Bob said suddenly. "It's time we stopped waiting for Exabyte's next move. It's time we took this fight to her."

      "But we're not ready to..." Matrix began.

      "Then we'll get ready!" Bob said. "This is our home! Our System, our Net! And I for one have had enough of this monster threatening it! I don't care if she _is a User! We have two Guardians, the greatest Hacker I've ever known, the most advanced Web Browser in the Net, a Super-Virus, _and_ the best strategists anywhere." He turned to Dot, Phong, and Welman. "Tell us how to delete her. We'll take care of the rest."_

      Everyone was quite for a long time. It was Phong who finally spoke up.

      "I may have a plan."

*   *   *   *   *  
TBC

*   *   *   *   * 


	14. How to Kill a Goddess

Disclaimer: Oh you know the drill.

*   *   *   *   *

**Queen of the Crashed**

By

The 18th Angel (aka DaemonFan)

*   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

Chapter 1110 - How to Kill a Goddess

*   *   *   *   *

      "I was there at the beginning," Phong said, clearly enjoying - at least a little bit - the way the entire assembly hung on his every word. "When Exabyte first came to the Net. I was there to greet her. For a time, when she first arrived, she was benevolent. She was beautiful and gentle, and dedicated to using her power to help those in need."

      "So what happened?" AndrAIa asked. "What changed her?"

      "I...do not know. As time went on, she became distant, then cruel. The last time I spoke to her, before she turned completely against us, she said she had made a mistake in coming. She said that a User was not meant to exist in the Net, but she could never go back. She actually apologized to me. I think...I think she wanted forgiveness for what she felt herself becoming. And she knew that would be her last opportunity to ask. As her madness grew, so it seemed did her power. When she was at her worst, nothing could stop her.

      "The problem is power. Exabyte has it, in almost limitless amounts. Currently, I believe she is still weak from her long compression, but as soon as she regains her full power, she can literally be everywhere in the Net at once. A firewall can block her spread, in theory, but it would do little good. A system that attempts to keep her out in this manner will only prolong their own deletion. She can outlast any attempt to restrict her access. And no one attack, short of crashing the entire Net, will destroy her in this form. As long as even the smallest fraction of her code survives, she can eventually return to full power. But for all that, Exabyte does have a weakness. When she is spread out across the Net, she cannot focus her power."

      "So in other words, the more places she is at once, the less dangerous she is at any one place," Dot said.

      "Precisely," Phong continued. "Drastic expenditures of energy, the kind necessary to infect a game or delete with a touch, require Exabyte to 'pull herself together', so to speak. And it is then that she is vulnerable."

      "How is that?" Ray asked.

      "Because if she's destroyed then, none of her little pieces can escape and reform," Bob suggested.

      "Exactly," Phong said.

      "I hate to be the naysayer all the time," Matrix said, "But there's still a problem. One; how do we get her to put her entire self in one place? Two; even if we can, how in the Net are we supposed to destroy something that powerful?"

      "I've been working on that," Welman said. "Once Exabyte is in her gathered state, she can be injured just like any other program. Damage her enough, and she will be erased."

      "What's the catch," Matrix asked his father.

      "The catch is that all the damage, or at least enough of it to incapacitate her, must be inflicted in less than a nanosecond, or she will disperse."

      "How much damage are we talkin' about?" Mouse asked.

      "To destroy a power source as great as Exabyte's would require transfinite energy," Welman said. "Detonating the Core of any medium sized system should be enough, but she would have to be entirely inside the system for the explosion to delete her."

      "You said firewalls can keep her out of a system, Phong," Dot said. Phong nodded. "Well then wouldn't an inverted firewall around a system trap her inside?"

      "It is a reasonable assumption," Phong said.

      "So we get her into an abandoned system, make sure all of her is there, then lock her in with a firewall and blow the core," Bob said.

      "It's just that simple, is it?" Megabyte said.

      "I didn't ask for your opinion," Bob replied.

      "Well you had better listen to it, Guardian. Unless you want your brilliant plan to get you and everyone else here deleted."

      Bob sighed. "All right," he finally said. "I'm listening."

      "As soon as Exabyte realizes that she's been trapped in a system she will use the email program to escape before you can detonate the core."

      "How do you know?" AndrAIa asked.

      Megabyte shrugged. "It's what I'd do."

      "That's the best you can come up with?" Bob asked. "It's 'what you'd do'?"

      "Exactly what more do you want?"

      "Well it would help if you had even a shred of credibility."

      "I'm trying to help you, Bob," Megabyte said calmly.

      "Out of the goodness of your processor I'm sure," Bob said.

      "Of course not. I'm in this to save my own ASCII. Given that, I would think you would be a little more inclined to trust my information."

      "Well sorry. You may have forgotten, but the last time I accepted your help in a crisis, it didn't turn out very well for me."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Do you think he's right," Dot asked as they left the war room.

      "Maybe," Bob said reluctantly. "I wouldn't be quick to trust _anything Megabyte says..."_

      "Neither would I, but..."

      "It did have a ring of truth to it," Bob said. "I mean spreading by e-mail is a time-honored viral tactic; they even teach us to watch out for it at the academy. But she would have to access the mail program the instant the firewall goes online to get out in time. Which would mean she would have to know that she was being trapped before the trap was even sprung."

      "Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past her to do that."

      Bob nodded. "...Or leave part of herself outside just in case, or even break through the firewall before the system could explode. For all we know, she might even be able to survive an exploding system."

      "Which leaves us where?" Dot asked.

      "Right back where we started as far as I can see," Bob said, pounding the wall next to him in frustration. "I guess that's the problem with fighting a User. You can never be sure what she's really capable of. Until it's too late."

      "We're not starting to believe in a certain type of scenario, are we?" Dot asked.

      Bob managed a small smile. "Not at all," he said. "There's a way out of this, and we _will_ find it. I just don't know how..."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Will she be all right?" Enzo asked, looking through the glass to where Daemon lay unconscious in a hospital bed.

      "She is just resting," Phong said. "Her injuries were severe, but her viral code is already beginning to repair the damage. In a few seconds she should be good as new."

      "Lucky her," Cadet Disa said, coming into the infirmary. Her arm was in a sling and she still wore bandages on the worst of the cuts. But her bruises had faded away and she no longer limped when she walked. "Just here for my routine check-up," she said.

      "Of course," Phong said. "If you would just take a seat I will be with you in a nano."

      "Hey kiddo, what's up?" Disa asked, sitting down on the nearest exam table while Phong ran a sample of Enzo's code through the scanner. Enzo didn't appreciate being called 'kiddo' by someone only a few hours older than him, but it wasn't like complaining ever made people stop. In fact, in all of Mainframe the only person who didn't treat him like a kid was Daemon. In the game, she had treated him like an ally, not just some annoying kid getting in the way. Then again, maybe it was just because she was new. Perhaps, given time, she would treat him like all the others did. But he hoped not.

      "Nothing," he said. "I got hurt in the game."

      "Too bad," Disa said. "I wish I could have been in there helping."

      Enzo shook his head. "Trust me, you really don't."

      He was spared further conversation when Phong came back with the test results.

      "Everything okay?"

      "Perfectly fine," Phong said. "I simply wanted to be sure you were all right, Enzo. The undeleted are animated by a viral bug. Their bite can sometimes transmit the bug into a processing being."

      "So...I could have become one of those things?" Enzo asked.

      Phong nodded gravely. "But luckily you are not infected. If the bug was transmitted at all, it infected your ReBoot only and departed with the rest of the game data. Your code is clean."

      "Cool, see ya!" Enzo hurried out before Phong or Disa could say anything else. The idea of turning into a zombie scared the dell out of him, but the last thing he needed was for them to see that. Already once word of the possibility spread, people would think he was even more helpless than they had already assumed. Dot would probably insist that he never go into a game again. It wasn't his fault that thing bit him, but that wouldn't make any difference to his sister.

*   *   *   *   *

      The Super Virus known as Daemon rarely slept. Thanks to her massive and self-replicating reserves of viral energy, she needed only a fraction of the amount of downtime that Sprites and lesser Viruses required. However, at times like this, when her energies were taxed with repairing massive damage to her bitmap, she could sleep for seconds at a time. And as she slept, like all intelligent subroutines, she dreamed.

      -----

      She was young; a frail, lonely girl in a system tearing itself apart. Everywhere, Sprites ran for safety, trying to find a way out of the dying system. Parents held their children tight, so as not to lose them in the tide of refugees. But no one held her; or even noticed her presence. There was no one who cared for her, and there never had been from the moment she was compiled 1.3 hours previous. She didn't even have a filename. She had always had to care for herself, and now it was up to her to save herself before her home crashed. But she was running out of time.

      The mass of refugees wound its way up to the Principal Office, pulling her along in its tide. On the steps of the P.O. huge search engines were loading as many passengers as they could - likely more than was safe - before taking off through the open port to safety in the Net. But space on the remaining engines was running out, and the hard truth was dawning on the CPUs at the head of the line. Not everyone would make it out; some would have to be left behind.

      The microseconds that followed were the worst. No matter how many people boarded the waiting ships, the throng of refugees never seemed to move. She was sure she would be left behind. And then it was her turn, she was on the top of the steps to the Principal Office and a burly Sprite in CPU protocols was blocking her way to the ships.

      "Icon."

      The fully compiled Daemon, watching the scene through her own eyes, cursed her younger self for her naivety. But even in dreams, the past could not be changed. Just as before, she innocently looked up at the guard, waiting expectantly for her to present her Icon, and told him the truth.

      "I do not have one."

      That got the guard's attention. He looked down at the little girl with a new air of suspicion. "Why aren't you registered? You're way past old enough. Where are your parents?"

      She tried to turn and run, but the guard caught her wrist in one hand.

      "Please! Let me go!"

      "Daecon! Get your ASCII over here!" the CPU yelled. A young Sprite in a Guardian uniform ran over to them. He took one look at the raggedy girl struggling against the Sprite nearly twice her size, and almost laughed out loud.

      "You can't be serious," he said.

      "She was trying to get out of the system," the Guard said. "She's got no Icon, and she tried to run when I questioned her."

      "All of this means what to me?" the man called Daecon asked.

      "A girl her age with no Icon? Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"

      "Fine, fine." Daecon made a big show of raising his right arm. Resting just above his wrist was a dull gray Keytool. "Macro; scan." The device clicked and whirred before chirping something at him.

      "I'll be spammed," Daecon said quietly. "She's a Virus, all right."

      "Well you're a Guardian Daecon!" the guard said in a panicked voice. "Get rid of it!"

      "Certainly you don't want me to delete her right here," Daecon said. She cringed at the word 'delete'. This was all wrong. Wouldn't she know if she was a Virus?

      "Of course right here! The sooner the better, she's probably the one doing all this!" he gestured around him at the crashing system.

      "Not in front of the children," Daecon said calmly, indicated the kids - some of them the same age as her - in the crowd of onlookers.

      "Then take her out back!" the guard yelled. "Just get it done!"

      "Your wish is my command line," Daecon said, taking her by the wrist and dragging her away from the crowd. She dug her heels into the ground, fought, pleaded, but to no avail.

      "Please stop! I'm not a Virus! I'm not!"

      "Macro never lies," Daecon told her. "I'm sorry kid. You probably don't even realize what you're doing, do you?"

      "I am not doing anything, I swear!"

      But Daecon wasn't listening; he wasn't paying attention to anything except his current mission. He took no notice of her pleas. Neither did he notice the shadowy, cloaked man who detached himself from the crowd and followed them.

      -----

      Daemon woke to an unfamiliar sensation; the dull ache of unhealed wounds. She opened her eyes and saw Dot sitting by her bedside.

      "I must have been hurt more badly than I thought if _you_ are concerned," she said.

      "We've been taking shifts," Dot replied. "Well, except for Matrix."

      "How is Enzo?"

      "He's fine," Dot said.

      "It would seem I...owe him my life..."

      "You can pay him back right now," Dot said. "We're going after Exabyte, we need you to help us with the planning."

      "I will do whatever I can," Daemon said.

      "We're going to trap her in an abandoned system, then set it to self-destruct."

      "It will not work," Daemon said. "Exabyte will simply remove herself from the system via E-mail."

      "Are you sure?" Dot asked.

      Daemon shrugged. "It is what I would do."

      Dot sighed. "Get some rest. I'm sure we'll need you in fighting form before this is all over."

      "Give me a few more milliseconds and I will be good as new."

      "Glad to hear it."

*   *   *   *   *

      "Well that settles it," Bob said as Dot stepped out of the infirmary. "I wouldn't want to trust Megabyte on anything, but Daemon I believe."

      "I agree," Matrix said, earning shocked looks from the others. "What? I don't think she's lying. Doesn't mean I like working with her."

      "So what now?" AndrAIa asked.

      "Back to square one, I guess," Dot said. "Unless anyone can think of a way around this problem."

      "Could we disable the system's e-mail?" Matrix asked. "I mean, if there's no mail program, she can't use it to escape, right?"

      "She would only re-activate the program," Phong said.

      "Besides," Glitch added. "She can just hop into the Web whenever she feels like, I doubt a firewall would stop her."

      "No, it would," Phong said. "I never truly understood the process Exabyte used to transfer herself into the Net, but it left certain...idiosyncrasies in her code. She can form portals without a tear, but in order for her to leave a system, that system must be open. A firewall will keep her in, provided it is too strong for her to break through."

      "So if we can get her into a system and trap her there with a firewall, all we have to do is solve the E-Mail problem," Dot said.

      "More important than that," Bob said, "we know that a strong enough firewall will keep her out. Mouse, I want you to get a firewall up around Mainframe. Not just the Net ports; the entire System."

      "You got it," Mouse said, heading for her workstation.

      "And Mouse..." the Hacker turned back, giving Bob her attention again. "Make it strong." She gave him a 'thumbs up' on her way out.

      "But we can't just lock ourselves away in here while Exabyte destroys the rest of the Net," AndrAIa said.

      "Agreed," Dot said. "We need to find a way around the mail strategy."

      For what felt like the first time in cycles, Bob's face broke into an unrestrained smile. "And I know just the guy to tell us how."

*   *   *   *   *

      Dot's Diner was unusually cheerful considering the events unfolding outside of Mainframe. It seemed that the citizens of Mainframe were not aware of the danger despite Dot's efforts to alert them. Either that or they were so used to conflict that imminent danger now seemed run of the mill. Enzo certainly was. He sat alone in the far corner. The energy shake in front of him had grown warm milliseconds ago; he had barely sipped it. He was more in the mood for thinking than snacking. 

      Unfortunately, all his thoughts led him back to the same place. He had spent most of his runtime emulating those around him, especially Bob and Matrix. That was fine for a kid, but despite what everyone seemed to think, Enzo wasn't a kid any more. He was nearly 1.3 for crying out loud! Dot was only a few hours older when she had her first job. But Enzo didn't want to go into business. He wanted to be a Guardian. But how would he ever get into the Academy when he could barely take care of himself?

      "Why is it every time we run into each other, you look more and more depressed?" Enzo looked from his energy shake as his older self slid into the booth across from him.

      "I think I've got enough reasons to be," Enzo said.

      "Yeah. I guess we all do," Matrix said. He leaned across the table, almost conspiratorially, as if he didn't want anyone to hear what he was about to say. "I miss them too."

      "Huh?"

      "Hack. Slash," Matrix sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I never thought I'd say this, but... I can't imagine Mainframe without them."

      "Yeah," Enzo said. "But oddly, for the first time since...it happened, that's not what I'm depressed about."

      "What, then?"

      Enzo hesitated briefly, but in the end he decided to just come out and say what was on his mind. "I want you to train me Matrix!"

      "Train you?" Matrix asked.

      "Teach me how to fight," Enzo said. "Help me get stronger."

      The older Enzo raised an eyebrow. "This isn't another one of your 'Little Matrix' episodes, is it?"

      "No!" Enzo said, "I just...I want to be able to help, that's all. I'm sick of being the one everybody has to come rescue! I want you to teach me how to take care of myself and fight like you do!"

      "I thought you wanted to be a Guardian," Matrix said.

      "I do," Enzo replied. "That's all I've ever wanted. But I can't download to the Academy until I'm 1.8; by which time I could be deleted in about a hundred different ways. I need to learn this now. At least the basics. I'd ask Bob, but he'd want me to wait until the Academy; I was hoping you'd be less..."

      "Like Dot?"

      "Exactly! I already know some stuff. You know, from Games. I want to know how to fight Viruses."

      "First, let's get a few things straight," Matrix said. "_If I decide to go along with this, we do it my way. That means tough like you've never seen before. I'm not going to be nice or even particularly fair, and you'll probably spend a lot of time hating me. How fast can you run a micron?"_

      "Um....seven...maybe eight microseconds," Enzo guessed.

      "'Cause if I train you you'll be running five of them first thing every second."

      "Five?"

      Matrix nodded. "And when that gets too easy we'll move it up to ten. Sound too hard?"

      Enzo shook his head. "I'll do it."

      "The five microns is warm-up," Matrix said. "There's also push-ups, sit-ups, calisthenics, weights," he ticked the items off on his fingers, "Then _if_ you have time, you can have some breakfast before we get into the _real_ training. Think you can handle that?"

      "Bring it on!" Enzo said, determined not to back down.

      "All right. Your on break from school, right?"

      Enzo nodded. "For the next two minutes."

      "Good," Matrix said. "I have to go out of system for a second or two. Enjoy those seconds, and use them to decide if you _really_ want to do this. I'll ask you again when I get back. If you say 'yes' then, there's no backing out; you'll have to see it through to the end no matter how much it hurts, understand?"

      "I don't need two seconds to make up my mind," Enzo said. "I'll do it."

      Matrix smiled. He had to admire the younger Sprite's determination. The kid had potential; what remained to be seen was whether or not he had perseverance.

      "I'll see you in a few seconds then," Matrix said, heading for the door. "You'd better get some rest while I'm gone; relax a little, have fun," he grinned at his younger self, "'Cause once I get back, your relaxing seconds are over!"

*   *   *   *   *  
TBC

*   *   *   *   * 


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